The Demon and the Witch
by Revengegetsnowhere
Summary: This takes place right after Willow gets back from England, from there the story deviates. The gang investigate a new mausoleum that has appeared in the graveyard. Meanwhile a new darkness arrives to Sunnydale. Could the two events be related? Read to find out! Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own any of the familiar faces they belong to Joss Wheden. Anybody new is mine.**

* * *

Buffy Summers' house was unusually quiet. Everyone was either out of the house for the time being or just relaxing, waiting for the Hellmouth to stir up more trouble. Willow had just come back from England and had moved in with Buffy. The day was going fairly well when, there was a huge bang as the spell Willow was working on backfired.

"Crap"

She muttered as she went over her ingredients to check where she went wrong.

"Willow, are you okay?"

Buffy asked as she ran down the stairs into the kitchen. Willow had all sorts of books and dried herbs spread out on the table. She was so engrossed with what she was doing that she didn't hear the Slayer's question.

"Will?"

Buffy asked again. Her voice now making the young witch jump.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. Just can't seem to get the mixture right..."

She trailed off as she resumed her reading, too distracted to give an in depth answer.

"What are you working on?"

Willow looked up at the question with a slight look of annoyance.

"Just trying to get an object locator spell to work, they're trickier than a person locater spell."

She resumed her reading and adjusted the measurements, and then reading the incantations over again. Just as Buffy was about to ask why Willow need such a spell, the backdoor opened, making both girls look up. It was Dawn, and by the look on her face Buffy knew there was trouble.

"You two had better see this."

All three girls made their way to the graveyard as Dawn explained what she saw.

"We were walking past the graveyard when I noticed something different about it."

"What is different?"

Buffy asked

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, I saw a new mausoleum had appeared and I went over to look at it. There is a bunch of writing on it I don't recognize, but I did see some symbols that look like some I've seen in Willow's books. So I thought I should get you"

"You did good Dawny."

Buffy said as she walked into the graveyard and up to the new addition. The mausoleum was bigger than any other in the graveyard. As Dawn had said there was all sorts of writing on the outside, some of it was carved into the stone while others were painted on in what looked like blood.

"What do you think of this?"

Buffy asked Will as they looked at the writing.

"Well, some of it looks like Latin, but the words don't make sense so I can't read it."

Willow frowned at the writing trying to understand what the author was trying to say. The symbols were what caught her eye next,

"Woah, look at this."

Buffy and Dawn walked to the side Willow was on and looked where she pointed.

"These symbols are very old, the oldest I have seen. Over here these mean 'evil' and 'monster'. While these here say 'beast' and 'soul'. The rest is too faded for me to make out."

"So whatever is in there, probably isn't too friendly?"

Dawn asked walking to the other side.

"No, my guess not."

Buffy whistled as she looked at the door. Behind a gate, the doors had giant bolts across the front with chains locking them in place.

"Well, it looks like whoever is in there won't be getting out anytime soon."

"We should get Giles to look at this, he would have a field day."

Dawn suggested.

"I second that, you coming Will?"

Buffy asked as she turned to leave, noticing the witch hadn't moved to follow.

"No, I'm going to stay here and study it some more."

"Okay, suit yourself. Just don't stay too long, it'll be dark in three hours."

Buffy said as she left with Dawn.

"Yes mom.".

The two Summers left and Willow was left alone to stare at the old structure. She walked around it again trying to find more symbols to read, to better understand what could be inside. She stopped at the gate and gave it a tug. It wouldn't budge, _Figures, _she thought. She had been getting weird vibes from the mausoleum the moment she set eyes on it. She didn't want to worry Buffy and Dawn so she kept it to herself. Whatever was in there didn't feel evil, just old.

* * *

On the outskirts of Sunnydale, a figure walked. It was shrouded by a worn out rob. The only thing you could see was the dirty bare feet of the walker. It swayed back and forth as it made its way down the road. A car was broken down a few feet away, the owner under the hood, trying to find the problem. He heard the footsteps and looked up from the car.

"Hey buddy. You any good with cars?"

He called as the figure approached. The figure didn't respond and continued to walk, swaying back and forth.

"You alright buddy?"

The man suddenly became nervous as the figure continued forward closing the gap between them.

"Hey man, I'm not looking for trouble. My car just broke down that's all."

The man stated backing away with his hands up, palms forward, from the road and walking around the car to put something between them. He slowly reached into the trunk of the car and pulled out his tire iron. He walked to the front of the car, holding it behind his back. The figure again did not reply and continued to walk, the swaying almost becoming hypnotic.

"Look, sir. I don't know what your problem is, but I need you to stop walking towards me."

The man pulled out the tire iron and waved it at the figure.

"I'm not afraid to beat the shit out of you."

The figure stopped walking about five feet away from the man.

"Do you know where she is?"

The man felt chills down his spine when the figure spoke. He still couldn't tell if it was a man or woman from the voice.

"Who are you talking about?"

He asked taking a small step back.

"Where is she?"

The question was urgent and demanding.

"I don't know who're your talking about."

The man was wishing he never engaged the figure as panic was taking over his senses.

"I know she's here, I can feel her."

The figure began to walk towards the man again.

"Stay back asshole. I will hit you!"

"Where is she?"

The figure asked again, raising its hand to point.

"You have hidden her, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Give her back, she is mine!"

The figure rushed the man, knocking him down. It placed its hands around his neck and began to shake him. The man tried to hit the figure with his tire iron but it didn't affect the figure at all. He grabbed the figures arms and tried to pull the hands away but the figure was stronger. The man was surprised at how skinny the figure's arms were compared to the strength behind them. Desperate for air the man began to flail, grabbing at anything to make the figure let go. He grabbed a hold of the robe and ripped it free of the figure. The man was stunned to see a skeleton staring him with glowing eyes. It had no eye lids and there were chunks of a nose still left. Some rotten flesh clung to the skeletons head with a few strands of hair still in place. Ligaments still attached to the jaw moving it's mouth as it spoke.

"Where is she?"

It demanded, shaking the man. The man could only gasp and choke unable to speak. Darkness creeping into his vision and loosing all strength in his arms.

"Where is my demon!?"

* * *

**Any constructive criticism is welcome! More to come!**


	2. Chapter 2

**All familiar faces are belonging to Joss Whedon. Anybody new is mine.**

* * *

"You still reading that book?"

Buffy asked Willow as she came down the stairs seeing her friend engrossed in her book. The book was about ancient symbols and their meanings.

"Yeah I'm still trying to figure out what is inside that mausoleum, its starting to really interest me."

Willow responded, taking a break from her reading. For the past two days, since the mausoleum appeared, Willow had been reading every book she could find on old languages and symbols trying to decipher the messages left on the outside if the mausoleum. So far she was able to decode "Key" and "Power" from the rest of the scribbles. _I bet that most of the writing is just nonsense to confuse whoever is reading it. _Willow thought as she looked at the pictures she had taken of the structure. She had found an old book that helped her translate the strange version of Latin she found. As she had suspected the sentences didn't make any sense, it like a person just strung up together a bunch of words. _The person who wrote the Latin could have been crazy, I mean it was written in blood. _Willow was deep in thought. So far, everyday she went to the graveyard to look at the structure. The feeling she was getting from whatever was inside was not scary but intriguing. She hadn't gone to the graveyard yet today so with that last thought, she began to pack up her things.

"Going to see the eighth wonder of the world again?"

Buffy asked, seeing her friend pack up.

"Yeah, this thing is really interesting, don't you think?"

Buffy shrugged.

"Not really, anything that appears overnight and has a lock on it can't be good."

Willow sighed, _Maybe I should tell her about the vibes I'm getting._ _Nah, I better wait and see after today._ She smiled at Buffy,

"Well I'm off. See you in a bit."

Buffy waved at her friend as she left the house. She was concerned that her friend was becoming a little too obsessed with this new project of hers. _But it's Will we're talking about. She can handle herself, can't she?_ Her heart said "yes" but her instinct said "no"

* * *

Willow walked into the graveyard to her her new favorite spot. Every time she looked at the building, she could find more symbols that were hidden by the paint, or had other things carved around it making it harder to see. She sat there for about an hour studying the walls slowly rotating around it seeking out more clues. After a while she started to get the feeling she was being watched. She began to look over her shoulder at every sound, expecting someone to pop into view. She tried to use her magic to locate whoever it was but felt nothing. After another twenty minutes she couldn't take it anymore and packed her things to leave. As she walked home she could still feel the eyes watching her. She was two blocks away from home when she heard the footsteps behind her. She quicken her pace and the footsteps mimicked hers. She whirled around trying to catch her pursuer off guard, but there was nobody on the street. She looked across the street and thought she saw someone duck behind a car.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

She asked, worry in her voice. _It couldn't be a vampire, it's still day time._ She reasoned as she waited to see the if the person would move from behind the car. After ten minutes of staring hard at the car, she gave up and turned around. She gasped and jumped backwards at the person now in front of her. She was tall, with short brown hair. Willow would have guessed her age between 25-30. Her clothes were very battered and worn out. Scars could be seen on her arms and a small one ran down her cheek and stopped at her chin. She had a tired look on her face, like she hadn't slept in a few days. The thing that caught Willow's attention the most was the look in her green eyes. The woman had a look of confusion and a small amount of fear.

"What is this place?."

The woman's voice was soft but strong, she sounded just as afraid as she looked.

"This is Sunnydale, what happened to you? What's your name?"

Willow asked reaching out to help the woman. She shied away from Willow's outstretched hand.

"I don't know, I can't remember my name."

The woman backed away from Willow, fear in her eyes.

"Let me help you, you look tired. What's the last thing you remember?"

Willow asked pulling her hand away. The woman calmed down and closed her eyes trying to remember.

"I woke up in a graveyard three days ago, there was nobody around. At night there were these vampires hanging around. They chased me last night all over the city, I only got away because the sun came up. The only other person I've seen is you, and you didn't seem like you'd hurt me. Please, do you know who I am?"

_Her eyes are so hopeful,_ Willow thought as she looked at the woman.

"I don't know, but I do have friends who can help."

Willow said to the woman.

"Friends? Are they vampires?"

She asked moving back a little. Willow could see the fear and mistrust in her eyes.

"No, nothing like that, well except for one, but he has a soul so he wouldn't hurt you. I live only a block from here. My friends are people you can trust. Follow me."

Willow began walking and the woman followed cautiously behind her. _Not the worst person to run into in Sunnydale._ She thought as they made their way up the stairs and into Buffy's house.

"Hey Buffy, I want you to meet a new friend."

Willow called as she opened the door.

* * *

After killing the weak human on his way into the city, the skeleton was feeling much better. After waking up to find his body rotten and his demon gone he was in a very bad mood. He had sucked the soul from the man and some of his body had regenerated. Some muscle and ligaments had appeared so moving was an easier task for him. _I can't believe I was sealed away for three hundred years, the nerve of those monks! I had everything, unlimited powers, riches, an invincible army, a demon at my side. And I lost it all to some goodie two shoes and a couple of monks. Just wait, I'll get it all back and then some._ The skeleton continued to walk through the town, it was dark and quiet. _Even at night theres not many people about._ The skeleton thought looking around.

"Who do we have here?"

The skeleton looked up and saw a man standing front of him. The man was wearing a leather jacket with spikes. The man smiled,

"Got any money buddy? Draining old men ain't my style."

_What's he talking about?_ The skeleton asked himself cocking his head sideways in curiosity. _Oh, he's one of those blood sucking vampires, no wonder nobody is out at this hour, well except me._ The skeleton chuckled,

"I almost feel sorry for you young man."

The vampire was caught off guard as the skeleton raised his head.

"What do you mean?"

"You picked the wrong man to mess with."

The skeleton moved with speed and punched the vampire in the chest.

"What are you?"

The vampire asked.

"A very bad man."

The skeleton replied as he withdrew his hand from the vampires chest. The vampire burst into dust and blew away in the breeze. _Too bad,_ _not even a soul to eat._ The skeleton began walking towards the center of town. _I need more souls._

* * *

**Please leave a comment or something, I would like the feedback!**


	3. Chapter 3

**As always, all familiar faces belong to Joss Whedon, anybody new belongs to me. **

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You woke up in a graveyard with no memories. Got chased by vampires all night and then stalked my friend to her home looking for help?"

Buffy summarized after the woman was done talking. The woman nodded and shifted uncomfortably on the couch in the living room. Willow could see she was very intimidated by the Slayer.

"I don't think 'stalk' is the right word Buffy. She was just afraid, I mean she was chased by vampires all night."

"Yeah and I'm very impressed she didn't get caught. Not just anyone can manage that."

Buffy said crossing her arms.

"What are you trying say Buffy?"

"I'm saying that she must have some similar background as us to be able to know who's a vampire and then escape them for a whole night. Besides, it's easy to fake amnesia."

"S-so you don't believe m-me?"

The woman asked, now standing and fidgeting with her worn out shirt. Her face had become flushed with anger. She quickly turned and headed for the door.

"Fine I won't waste any of your time. I'll just leave you alone and try to figure it out myself."

She said choking back a sob. She reached for the door, while Willow shot Buffy an angry look.

"Wait, I didn't mean that, I was just thinking out loud."

Buffy called after the woman. She turned away from the door and walked into the living room.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"You need our help, and we are right people to come to for strange cases. If you had gone to anyone else you might end up in the Psychiatric ward. That wouldn't help you would it?"

Willow said trying to calm her down, she was very tense. _Who was she before to become so skiddish?_

"So where should we start? Willow? Any ideas?"

Buffy asked sitting in her chair.

"We could go back to the first place where she woke up and try to find clues."

Willow suggested.

"Are you sure? Those vampires could come back if we're there when it gets dark."

The woman said with worry. Buffy smiled at the woman.

"No need to worry about that, I can handle a few vamps."

The trio went to the graveyard and began walking around in between the head stones looking for anything that could be a clue to the woman's identity.

"Do you remember where exactly you woke up?"

Buffy asked after ten minutes of searching that gave no results. The woman nodded,

"Sure, you can't miss it. It's the biggest thing in the graveyard."

She pointed, Willow and Buffy groaned, knowing exactly where she was pointing. The mausoleum loomed out in the dusk light. _It looks scarier in this light._ Willow thought as they approached the giant structure. Willow noticed the woman seemed to shiver with a nervous energy.

"You okay?"

She asked the woman.

"Yeah, I just feel a little light headed looking at this thing. Who is in there anyway?"

Buffy gave Will a look that told her that Buffy wasn't liking this situation any more than she was.

"We were wondering that too, this thing appeared three days ago."

The woman turned to face Willow.

"You are kidding, the same time I woke up here? That isn't a coincidence is it?"

"No it is not."

Buffy said as she walked around the structure. The woman approached the building and looked at the writing on the walls.

"I never looked at this thing closely until now, it freaked me out."

"See anything you like?"

Willow asked as the woman traced the symbol for "beast" with her finger. Willow's words seemed to snap her attention back to her surroundings.

"What did you say?"

"Did you remember something?"

Willow asked, she could tell something shook her up.

"I think so, this writing is so familiar to me, I just don't know from where though."

She walked around to the gate and gave it a tug.

"Don't bother, I tried that alr-"

Willow was cut off by the clank of the gate opening. _I thought it was locked tight. _Willow was surprised and watched as the woman opened the gate all the way. She walked in towards the door and put her hand on the handle. The chains rattled as she tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.

"Darn, I'd thought that'd work."

The woman muttered, under her breath. Buffy came running around the corner at the sound of the gate opening.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her away from the door.

"I-I just felt like I needed to get inside, I feel something important is in there that I... need."

The woman was startled by the angry look on Buffy's face.

"Somebody locked that thing up for a reason, do you really think we should open it up?"

The woman looked at her feet,

"I guess not, sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Hey, don't get so down on yourself, at least we know you really do have a connection with this thing."

Willow interjected trying to lighten the mood. _Let's just hope it isn't a bad connection._

* * *

_She was here. _The man thought as he placed his hand on the gate. It was midnight in the graveyard and the man had finally made it to the place where he felt the second strongest power in the whole town. He smiled as he looked at the mausoleum. _I couldn't have opened this gate without her help, how nice of her._ He chuckled to himself, _not that she had much of choice. _He had eaten several souls in town during the day, careful to cover his tracks. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself before he was at full strength. All the while keeping a eye out for his demon, _why hasn't she found me yet? _He wondered as he walked around town drawn by the energy of souls who would give him the most energy. He had managed to retain most his body after eating the souls. He was still grossly skinny and his face hollow. Some ribs were still showing through his skin, but after "acquiring" some real clothes along with a hat, he had the appearance of a normal person. He took the lock in his bony hand and studied it. It had all sort of magical runes written on it in place of a key hole. He waved his hand over it, _child's play, _he thought as the lock fell away. The chains moved on their own along with the dead bolts, unlocking the door.

"Here we are.'

The man said as he walked into the small building. What lay inside was a table with a box on the top. The box had another seal on it that burst into flames when the man touched it. He opened the box and pulled out the locket. It was silver with a matching chain, the symbol for 'beast" on the front.

"Now show me where my demon is hiding."

The man said to the locket. It twitched and and then began to point towards to demon. _Excellent._ He thought, _everything is going smoothly._

* * *

Willow sat up straight in bed as she heard the woman in the guest bedroom scream. She rushed into the bedroom right behind Buffy.

"What is it?"

They both asked in unison. Willow walked over to the woman who was curled up into ball on the bed breathing heavily. She was covered in sweat and had tears in her eyes.

"I-I had the w-worst n-nightmare."

"I'll go make some tea."

Buffy offered and left the room quickly.

The woman continued to sob into her arms for a few more minutes. Willow sat down on the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, it was just a dream. Talking about it might you fell better."

The woman sat up and seemed calmed down a bit. She took a couple of deep breaths and told Willow about her dream.

"I was in small room, there was a door but I couldn't get to it no matter how fast I ran. There was a man behind me laughing as he watched me try to get away. He kept saying 'You can't escape me. You'll never be free of me.' He held out his hand and had this shining ball of light in it. I knew I needed it to unlock the door, but had to take it away from him. I tried to fight to get it back, but every time I swung at him, he would vanish into smoke. It was like I couldn't touch him."

After finishing, she looked at Willow for some sort of explanation to her dream.

"That doesn't sound like a dream honey, it sounds like a vision."

The woman's eyes got wide,

"How do you know that?

"I didn't tell you? I'm a witch, I have a little experience with these kinds of things."

There was a knock at the door. Willow looked at the clock, it read 2:32am.

"Who could that be?"

She wondered out loud. She looked at the woman, she had a look of fear on her face.

"I'll get it."

Buffy called as the two women upstairs heard her move to the entry way.

"Don't answer that!"

The woman yelled jumping from the bed and running to stop Buffy. Willow quickly followed and chased her down the stairs. The woman reached Buffy as she turned the doorknob.

"No! Don-"

Buffy turned to look at the woman as the door opened, revealing the late night guest. The man was standing on the porch, the locket in his hand, it was pulling at the chain trying to break free and return to its owner, who was so close by.

"There you are Dess, I've been looking for you everywhere."

* * *

**Want more? Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**As always all familiar faces belong to Joss Whedon**

* * *

Willow couldn't believe her eyes. The man standing at the door looked more like a skeleton than a person.

"Stay away from me!"

The woman screamed, stepping backwards. Willow moved to place herself between the skeleton man and the woman.

"It's not even close to Halloween, why are you dressed as Skeletor?"

Buffy asked, as she placed herself between the man and her friends.

"I don't have to explain myself to you Slayer, I'm here to reclaim my demon servant, although she seems to have lost her memory. What did you do to her?"

The man asked angrily, now taking a step into the house. The woman was holding onto Willows shoulder, she could feel her shaking.

"Don't let him take me."

She whispered to Willow.

"Don't worry, nobody is leaving here unless I make them."

Buffy said, taking a defensive stance. The man just stood there and looked at the woman with his glowing eyes.

"Now, now Dess. Don't you remember who I am? I am your master. You must obey my orders, because if you don't, I'll destroy this."

The man chuckled and pulled out the locket again. He gave it a squeeze. Behind Willow, the woman clutched her chest, she couldn't breathe. Gasping, she looked at the man.

"What are you doing?"

Willow asked. She turned to the woman to help her. Her face was pale and her skin was clammy. _She's having a heart attack!_ Willow realized as she felt for the woman's pulse.

"Buffy, he's killing her! Get that locket away from him."

Buffy sprung into action. She kicked at the man's hand, causing him to drop the locket. It hit the ground a soft clink.

"Damn it!"

The man fumed, he dodged the Slayer's attacks and countered every punch she threw at him.

"I've fought you twice before, I know all your attacks."

He countered a kick and then punched Buffy in the stomach, sending her flying into the living room with a crash.

"Then how about this!"

Willow yelled as she gathered up her energy and focused it into a single attack. She pushed the energy at him.

"A witch?"

The energy hit the man in the chest, making him take a step back. He straightened, and waved his hand at Willow, flinging her into the side of the hallway. The wall absorbed the impact and Will sunk to the floor winded. The man walked over to the woman and picked her up by the throat. She choked as she tried to break his grip.

"Don't worry Dess, I'll make you remember your master."

His other hand began to glow blue and he placed it on her head. She let out a heart wrenching scream as her mind was being forced to recall all her memories all at once. _It's crude, but an effective spell to bring her memories back. A normal human would die from this but she couldn't die even if she wanted to. _Willow saw the woman hit the floor as the man dropped her. Her eyes, nose and ears had begun to leak blood and as she lay on the floor it pooled under her head, her eyes cold and lifeless.

"You killed her."

Willow couldn't believe what she had seen. This man's magic was crazy strong even beyond her skill.

"Ready for round two?"

Buffy yelled as she jumped from the living room, having recovered from his last punch. The man smiled and stepped over Willow as he approached Buffy.

"I've got a score to settle with you."

Buffy grumbled as the two began exchanging blows. Every time she hit him, he didn't seem to flinch or feel any pain. Her fists were beginning to feel heavy after every hit. The man raised his fist to hit Buffy, and it was all she could do to block the hit. It sent her crashing into the stairs, splintering the wood and cutting her badly. The man turned and began to move towards Willow, his hand glowing blue and outstretched. Buffy quickly stood up and placed herself in front of Willow.

"I'm surprised you could still stand considering the spell I cast on you."

Buffy was confused until all of a sudden her whole body felt like it was made of lead. She fought to stand, but her legs couldn't hold her. Her arms dropped as she sunk to the floor.

"What did you do to me?"

It took all her energy to talk. The man smiled as he stepped towards the Slayer, glowing hand ready to fry the humans mind.

"Get away from her!"

Willow yelled, energy flowing through her body. Her turned black as she began chanting her spell. The energy of the room changed and the air became thin as the magical energy swirled around the young witch. She raised her hand and pointed at the man.

"You are not welcome here, leave!"

The man was caught off guard and thrown backwards out the front door. He landed with a thud and Willow could hear several bones break on impact with the hard ground. The man staggered as he stood up and faced the house. Willow was already standing in the front lawn, ready to throw the fireball she had conjured in her hand.

"That was a very impressive spell young lady. It seems I haven't recovered all my powers yet. How lucky for you, I'll return when I have collected more energy."

* * *

Willow sank to the ground exhausted. She didn't know where all that energy had come from but she was thankful it was enough to make that crazy guy go away. She heard a groan from inside the house and pulled herself up. She made back inside and saw that the spell the man had put on Buffy had worn off. Buffy had gotten back to her feet and was now seeing if the woman needed help.

"He killed her Buff."

Willow said, sadness returning as she remembered the man using his magic on the poor woman.

"Well you should tell her that."

Buffy said as the woman made another groaning noise. Willow walked over and saw that the woman was now awake. The light was in her eyes again, along with something else. The woman sat up and held her head,

"What did he do to me? I feel like my brain is trying to evacuate my skull."

"I don't know, Willow might though, it was some crazy magic that's for sure."

Buffy looked to her friend for confirmation, but saw her attention was drawn to the floor. Willow bent down and picked up the locket that had fallen to the floor after Buffy kicked it out of the man's hand. When Willow touched it, her mind was filled with old memories. Knights on horseback, a screaming woman burning at the stake, a laughing king, finally a reflection in a mirror of a beautiful woman. After the images disappeared from her mind Willow looked at the woman sitting on the floor wiping blood from her face.

"It's yours isn't it?"

She asked the woman. The woman looked up her, that same strange light in her eyes. _She has her memories back._ Willow thought as they held eye contact.

"Yes, I remember now. My name is Dess and I'm a demon."

* * *

**Show some love! Let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took forever. Power outage ate my first draft.**

**Joss Whedon owns all the familiar faces, anybody new is mine, mine I tell you!**

* * *

Dess couldn't believe that what had happened. She'd lost her memories, and for three blissful days she was ignorant to the horror she had experienced serving that man. Now that she could remember, her soul was filled with grief once again as she relieved all the terrible moments at the same time. She was a demon, she killed people, hundreds in fact. She had caused so many to suffer in His name. They had named her The Destruction from the way she could level a town in minutes. He had liked the new title so much that He made it her name. Dess crumpled to the floor and began to cry. The emotions were too much for her to bare.

"Take them away, please!"

She cried at Willow. Willow was confused along with Buffy as to why the demon was crying.

"Take what away?"

"My emotions, get rid of them like He did, take away all my emotions. I can't stand the pain!"

Willow knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She could tell the demon was suffering emotionally. _What did he do to you?_

"I don't know how sweety, and even if I did, what good would it do you? You would be a zombie."

Dess looked up at Willow anger mixed with grief all over her face,

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I was feeling right now. 'Won't do it' you say? How about I kill your friends, then you'd have to kill me. I'd rather be dead than feel this pain again."

Dess jumped to her feet and lashed out at Buffy. Buffy was taken by surprise and was caught in a choke hold. She struggled against Dess' grip but the demon was strong.

"Stop! Let her go Dess."

"Make me Willow, you can kill me with that, and I can finally be free of this misery."

Dess had nodded at the locket still in Willow's hand. Will looked at it closely this time and saw that there was a picture of a heart etched on the outside. Dess tightened her grip on Buffy and she began to make choking noises.

"It's the only way I can die, believe me I've tried all the other methods. He didn't want me to die so He made the locket the only way, and I can't even touch it. So how many friends do I have to kill before you stop me?"

"How about none!"

Buffy choked. She finally broke free of Dess' grip. She jumped away from Dess and spun around landing a kick to Dess' stomach. Dess was thrown back a few feet, falling to the floor. She pulled herself up and looked at the two women. _Why doesn't she get it? Why won't she kill me?_ Dess screamed in frustration and made to charge them.

"I order you to sit down."

Willow's words echoed with power as Dess was forced to sit down. She fought the magic that bound her but was unable to win.

"Woah, how did you do that?"

Buffy asked as she watched Dess try to stand up again. Willow turned to her friend,

"I remembered something I read about demons being bound to objects. Whoever holds that object to which the demon is bound has the power to control them."

Dess had given up her fight to stand. She sat tired and defeated,

"What do you command my master?"

She asked miserably.

"Uh, well, for one thing you are not allowed to kill my friends."

Willow answered, she wasn't expecting the demon to give up so easily.

"Yes master."

Dess responded in a dead pan tone. Willow bent down and held the chin of the demon making the two of them hold eye contact. Willow could see the life and energy leave the demon's eyes as she fell back into her servant role. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, _I'll never be free._

* * *

"Damn it all!"

The man yelled as he trashed the already ruined apartment. He punched several holes into the wall and broke the only chair in the room. There was a shuffling sound from the corner and the man looked over at the two people he had tied up and left in the apartment.

"Shut up you two!"

He roared at them and they remained quiet. _I can't believe_ _I didn't realize I dropped the locket until I had left the house. I've lost my only weapon and servant. How am I to complete the ceremony by myself?_ He thought furiously trying to remember the spell he had used to summon the demon.

"I don't suppose either of you know how to use magic?"

He asked his two captives, they both shook their heads "no".

"Pity"

He then walked over and drained one of the captives of their soul. He turned to the other,

"Where is the nearest magic store?"

* * *

Dess waited as Willow and Buffy talked in low voices in the next room deciding on what to do with the demon. She had finally calmed down and took in her surroundings. She still couldn't stand up and her head was still hurting from the spell that He cast on her. _How long are they going to talk?_

"Are you two done talking? I have to pee."

Dess called, the two women came into the room.

"Promise not to break anything on your way there?"

Buffy asked crossing her arms. Dess looked to Willow,

"Whatever my master commands I have to obey."

"Look, I'm not really comfortable with the whole 'master' thing. Just call me Willow okay?"

Willow helped the demon stand up and showed her to the bathroom.

"I just don't think it's a good idea to have a demon in the house."

Buffy said, picking up where the two had left their conversation.

"Where would she go? She has to stay with the person who has the locket, that's how it works. We can't just give someone else the locket because that crazy guy would show up and take it. Then we would have to kill her and the guy."

"You sound like you wouldn't kill her even if you had to."

"I wouldn't, she has gone through so much Buff. I understand her pain, the pain of realizing you killed someone. I want to help her like everyone helped me. I think this is her second chance, she can now make up for what she did in the past."

Willow and Buffy were so engrossed with their conversation that they didn't notice Dess come back into the living room.

"You mean it?"

Dess asked, making the two look at her.

"Letting me make up for what I've done?"

"Yes, and I want to to know that I'm not going to command you to do anything anymore. As long as we're together you are free to do what you want, within reason, of course."

Dess' eyes widened, _I am_ _free?_

* * *

**Like what you read? Leave a comment about what you thought of this chapter or of the story thus far. It helps me know what to write next.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took awhile to get out. I had some writer' block.**

**As always all familiar faces belong to Joss Whedon, my god and savior, any new faces are mine.**

* * *

Dess ducked as an ax flew through the air and buried itself into the tree where Dess' head would have been. It had been five weeks since Dess had gotten her memories back and she was adjusting to her new freedom well. She and Willow were fighting some vampires as Buffy had engaged the lesser demon that was their leader. Dess told Buffy and Willow about the man that had attacked them. His name was Victor Bloodsteele. He was a power hungry ruler from the Medieval era. He had ambition to take over the world through fear and death. So in other words, he was bad news. After the mysterious man disappeared on that fateful night, lesser demons began popping up every where. Although none of this was on the forefront of Dess' mind as she fought to keep a vampire from biting her neck. She punched the vampire and he flew off his feet into the brick wall of a nearby building. Dess grabbed the ax from the tree and walked towards where Willow was having trouble with a second vampire. The vampire had managed to trip Willow and had her pinned.

"I've got a thing for red heads."

The vampire hissed as he inched closer to Willow's neck. Willow tried to fight back, but was no match for the undead. With one hand he kept her pinned and with the other, began to grope the witch.

"Get off of me you freak!"

Willow yelled. Her voice was desperate and she was losing this fight. Dess calmly walked up and patted the vampire on the shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?"

She swung the ax and lopped off his head before he could answer. Willow looked up at the demon, _it's only been about a month and I've already lost count of how many times she's saved me._

"You okay?"

Dess asked. Her tone was cold and indifferent, but Willow knew she really did care. She could see it in her eyes.

"Yeah, thanks. Are you okay too?"

Dess pulled her shirt up to show Willow a bad cut that ran along her ribs. Her demon blood was slowly leaking from it and seeping into her clothes.

"Aside from this, I am fine."

"Do you want me to heal it for you?"

"No, that would be a waste, I heal on my own eventually."

Dess then turned her attention towards the building, she could hear sounds of fighting coming from inside.

"We should go and help Buffy then."

"Are you ordering me to go help her?"

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the witch's answer.

"No, but we should. It's not like we could go on a coffee break or something."

"Whatever."

Dess said in a bored voice. She walked over to the big sliding door and ripped it off its track with a bang. The metal twisted and tore until it was a mangled mess. The fight between Buffy and the lesser demon paused as they both watched Dess walk through the ruined doorway.

"Who the Hell is that?"

The lesser demon asked as Dess made her way through the building, slowly climbing up the stairs to the second level.

"Actually the right question is 'Who _**in**_ Hell is that?'"

Dess corrected as she sat down on the edge, kicking her feet out and swinging them. She waved at Buffy to continue and pulled out a chocolate pudding cup followed by a spoon. The two watched her as she peeled back the lid and began to eat it.

"Oh, don't let me distract you. You two seemed to be in the middle of something. Please, continue."

Buffy kicked the lesser demon in the chest while he still gaped at Dess. He flew and smashed into one of the support beams. A loud "crack" could be heard and the whole building shook.

"Dess, get your lazy, demon ass down here and help."

Buffy yelled in frustration. Willow had walked into the building and saw Dess sitting and watching.

"I think its break time now."

Dess called, about half way done with the cup. Each spoonful was eaten slowly and carefully as Dess enjoyed the flavor.

"You should really help her Dess."

"Is that an order?"

She asked challenging Willow to break her promise. Willow sighed, shrugging her shoulders and changed her focus to the fight at hand. Buffy had the advantage since the demon had been distracted. She kept up a barrage of kicks and punches, keeping the demon off balance. She was carefully guiding the demon towards a hole in the ground that led to a magic containment circle that Willow had drawn up. They wanted to capture this demon alive so they could find out why so many demons were appearing in Sunnydale.

"That was a good break."

Dess stood up and stretched. She jumped down and quickly moved to where the Slayer was fighting.

"A little help here would be nice, any day now."

The demon had been able to get his footing and was now fighting back against Buffy, moving away from the circle and back to the center of the building. Dess jumped in as the demon was about to punch Buffy and caught his punch. He looked at her and his eyes glowed blue.

"You have no idea who I am yet do you?"

Dess asked as she stood her ground as the air got hot. Dess' arm caught fire as the demon's whole body was covered in flames. She didn't flinch as the demon grabbed her by the throat.

"Do you have any idea who I am? I am a lesser demon of fire. Who are you to act so boldly?"

Dess smiled and with her free hand grabbed the demon's arm he was choking her with, then with the other, still holding onto his fist, she crushed his hand. The bones cracked and poked through the skin as Dess then snapped his other arm. He wailed and backed away from Dess. Her arm was charred black from the flames but as he watched, new skin began to grow and heal.

"How can you heal so fast?"

He asked, holding both his useless arms. Dess reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the empty pudding cup.

"And they said these things weren't good for you."

she tossed the cup at the lesser demon and then pushed him into the magic circle. He grunted as he hit the hard ground, where he lay on his back looking up at Dess from the hole.

"Who are you?"

Dess smiled and it sent shivers down his spine.

"I am Destruction."

* * *

**Ooooo, this is getting intense! Tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Joss Whendon owns all the the people that you already know. Anybody new is mine!**

* * *

Victor paced in his new apartment. He had acquired it while looking for souls to eat. He had retained most of his body although he still had the look of and smell of death. For the past month he had been trying to summon powerful demons to help him but he lacked the magic power and only ended up with lesser demons. _If only I had more magic, _he thought to himself. His memory flashed to when Willow used her magic to thrown him out of the house. _She would do nicely, her magic would a very nice start to regaining my power._ _Although..._ he remembered Buffy kicking and punching him. _She does have a Slayer to protect her._ He smiled as he realized that his plan could work if...

Victor walked to the Magic Box to get supplies. He took note of the strange woman running the shop, he was getting a weird vibe from her and he didn't know energy wasn't that of a human.

"Ah, it's you again. Please buy as much as you want, it helps my business."

The blonde chirped as he began looking for his ingredients. _She certainly has energy, I'll give her that._ He collected everything on his list and handed them over to be bagged.

"Looks like some body is doing a locater spell. What did you lose?"

Victor looked up in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know a witch and she always used locater spells, so I know the ingredient list by heart."

Victor tried to smile,

"Well I seemed to have misplaced my watch, it was a gift from a friend."

She finished her bagging and took Victors money. She handed the bag over and as victor walked out the door she called to him,

"Please come back and spend more money!"

Victor rolled his eyes and continued back to his temporary home. _They have no clue whats coming._

* * *

Willow and Buffy were in the kitchen eating dinner when Dess burst into the room and ran to the fridge. She almost ripped the door off again as she frantically looked for something.

"What is it now?"

Buffy asked as the demon almost threw the fruit bowel out the window in frustration. Dess called down took a deep breath, although she still had an angry look on her face.

"We're out of pudding cups."

Her voice was low and serious, as if she was delivering the news to someone of the death of a relative.

"We need to go to the store and buy some now."

"Its 10:00pm, there aren't any stores open, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to get some."

Willow said, getting up to put away her dish. Dess huffed and stomped up the stairs in anger and slammed the door to her room with such force it shook the house.

"She acts like such a child, it really concerns me sometimes."

Buffy said to Willow after she was sure Dess couldn't hear them.

"Oh, she's just being rebellious because she can. You would be to if you had to follow orders for four hundred years. She'll get over it eventually, but she does look cute when she's mad."

Buffy looked at Willow with one eyebrow raised,

"Oh really? Do tell."

"Uh, nothing! I just think it's funny that she tries really hard to not show emotion and then blows up when she can't get her sugar fix."

Willow's cheeks flushed red as she tried to change the subject,

"So what do you think about what that demon said earlier?"

After Dess had crippled and caught the lesser demon, Buffy and Willow interrogated him to find out what he knew.

"He wasn't much help, he kept talking about how much his master needed power and was going to rule the world and make him his right hand man. It seems to me he was just a disposable asset."

"Yeah he seemed pretty keen to please his master not to worried about himself."

Willow sighed and sipped on her tea,

"So we are still at square one."

* * *

Victor was on his way home when something caught his attention. He had been walking through the graveyard enjoying the dead eerie air, when he heard a group of people chanting. He went over to investigate, sneaking through the headstones. There was group of young people sitting in a circle with lit candles all chanting in unison. They all were wearing black and some had piercings. Victor watched as they all gave a blood sacrifice into the chalice that was in the center of a pentagram. This gave him an excellent idea.

"Rise, great, oh powerful demon! We summon you to curse our enemies and wreak havoc on the simpletons!"

They all chanted and the air grew still, they all looked at each other.

"Did it actually work this time?"

One boy asked as he looked around frightened. Everyone waited patiently for about five minutes before they seemed to give up. They all began to pack up their things and blow out the candles.

"I knew this was a waste of time."

A girl with glasses grumbled as she stuffed the candles back into her bag.

"Who is the great magician who has summoned me?"

A loud voice boomed through the silence, making everyone jump. The group looked around trying to find the source. A figure loomed out of the darkness and approached the young adults. Everyone was on their feet and crowed together. _Like lost little sheep, _thought Victor.

"We really summoned him this time! I can't believe it worked!"

One of the group muttered and the rest murmured in agreement. The figure stepped into the candle light and the group collectively took a sharp intake of breathe. The figure had glowing red eyes and seemed inhumanly tall.

"Are you the demon we summoned?"

One woman with black hair asked.

"I am"

"What is your name?"

"Victor"

"That doesn't sound like a demon's name"

"Are you disappointed? Shall I leave?"

Victor turned to leave and a young man stepped forward.

"No please, we didn't mean to offend you. We just haven't successfully summoned a demon before."

Victor faced the group and looked at them carefully. There was two girls and three boys. The boy who had just spoken had short black spiked hair. The girl who had black hair also had several demonic tattoos on her arms and neck. The other girl who was clutching the arm of the frightened boy had glasses and dark makeup. The boy she was holding onto looked as if he was about to faint from fear. The last boy seemed to be the leader, he was at the front of the group with everyone behind him. He hadn't spoken since Victor made his grand entrance and carried himself with an air of confidence.

"Well, my masters what havoc shall I cause in your name?"

* * *

**How do you like it? Let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Usual disclaimer...yadda yadda. Kids, Don't do drugs. Unless everyone else is doing them, then do it, you nerd.**

* * *

The gang went into town to get more information. There was bar that a lot of demons and and other underworld folk hung out at. Buffy opened the door and everyone looked at the new visitors. They casually walked over to the bar and ordered their drinks. Dess kept an eye on a group by the door. They were a bunch of lesser demons, and they were all wearing the same arm band. They had started whispering and gesturing towards the three the second they walked in.

"I think they know who we are."

Dess said in a low voice to Willow. She nodded and gave a Buffy a look. She then stood up and walked over to the table. The demons stopped whispering and stared at the Slayer.

"Hey there. Don't suppose you know why we're here do ya?"

The group all jumped to their feet and pulled out their weapons.

"Thought so."

"You walked into the wrong bar Slayer."

The first demon grabbed his chair and swung it at Buffy. Dess stepped in and blocked the hit.

"She didn't come by herself, small fry."

Dess then threw the demon backwards crashing into the pool table. She then grabbed the next demon and punched him in the face. She grinned as she heard the sound of his nose snap. He stagged backwards and then pulled out his knife. He slashed at her, cutting into her arm as she raised it to protect herself. Her skin began to smoke and sizzle.

"Oh what the fuck!"

She cried staggering backwards clutching the wound.

"It's a blessed blade, stings doesn't it?"

The demon laughed and swung at Dess again. She dodged and grabbed a poll cue. She swung it and broke over his head. He laughed again and sliced her shoulder. She let out another string of swears as she backed away, looking for a better weapon.

"What demon carries a blessed blade anyway? If you touch the blade you're just as fucked as me. Asshole!"

Dess yelled as she danced with the demon. Each taking turns trying to land a hit through the others defense. Willow threw a fireball at one of the demons as he tried to sneak up behind Dess. She saw that he had a similar knife in his hand. She couldn't hit the other demon because Dess was in between them.

"Come here you little fuck."

Dess lunged at the demon and wrestled the knife out of his hand. The demon backed away and watched her with a mixture of fear and surprise. Dess waved the knife at him, making him flinch.

"This is not a toy, this is the real deal. Don't be fighting with weapons you don't know how to use."

The demon turned to run out the back door. Dess sighed and flicked her wrist, sending the knife flying through the air. It struck the demon in his side and pinned him to the wall. He screamed as his skin began to burn and spread to the rest of his body. Dess turned to make a smart remark to Willow when she noticed another demon moving up behind the witch. He had another knife and he moved to stab her in the back.

"Will! Look out!"

Dess called and moved to intercept. Willow turned to look where Dess pointed and saw the demon. She froze, she wasn't going to conjure her protection spell in time. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain. She quickly opened them when she felt someone hug her and pull her to the side. She felt something warm begin to spread over her abdomen, _Am I bleeding? I don't feel any pain though_. She looked down to see blood on her shirt, except it wasn't hers, it was blue and hot.

"Shit."

Dess hissed through her teeth. The knife was buried to the hilt into her back and was poking out the other side. It had gotten her in her low back, right where her vital organs were. She turned to demon, a small amount of blood came out of her mouth.

"Big mistake. Now I'm mad."

Dess pulled the knife from her back, grimacing from the pain. Her skin burned and blood poured from the wound. She walked up to the demon who was stunned. She staggered and coughed up more blood. Her eyes glowed green with power.

"You should be dead from that hit. It's a blessed blade."

The demon said in shock.

"Believe me, I wish I was dead."

With that she plunged the blade in his heart. He took two steps back, looking at the knife in his chest then back to Dess.

"He's waiting for you to return."

He said to Dess as he burst into flames. The knife clattered to the floor along with Dess. Willow rushed over and picked up Dess' head.

"Are you okay?"

Dess asked, her voice was hoarse.

"I should be the one asking you that. Are you in pain?"

"More than you could fathom."

Dess closed her eyes, _I've lost too much blood, I'm getting sleepy. I really hate the return trip._ Dess then fell limp in Willow's arms.

"Wait, don't die! You can't go! We only just met. You said you couldn't die! Don't lie to me."

Willow began to sob as she cradled Dess in her arms. She then felt a warmth on her pocket. She pulled out the locket, it was glowing and became very hot. It opened slightly and a small beam of light leaked out. It stretched and wound itself around Dess. When the light touched where her heart should be she began to make choking noises. She rolled on to her side and coughed up a huge amount of blood. She groaned and held her side as the light moved to her wound. Willow watched as the hole in Dess' side closed up from the inside out. The locket stopped glowing and Willow placed it in her pocket again.

"I always hate that part."

Dess grumbled as she stood up. She poked the scar and winced as it was still tender. She looked up at Willow and Buffy.

"What? You are the Slayer and you're a witch. You've seen things that would make the bravest human pee their pants and I can't die and come back to life without being stared at like a circus freak?"

She walked over and picked up the blessed blade and wrapped it in a torn piece of her shirt. She then walked over to the demon who was still pinned to the wall. He was pale and looked like he was in a lot of pain. She pulled the knife from his side and pointed it at him.

"Now you are going to tell us all about what Victor is up to, or I put this back, deal?"

* * *

Later that night Willow and Dess were on patrol. They walked around for about twenty minutes in total silence. Finally Willow couldn't take it anymore,

"Why are you so cold to everyone?"

The question was blunt and to the point. Dess stopped walking and looked up into the sky thinking of an answer. Willow looked at the sky as well trying to figure out what Dess would say. Finally Dess smiled, the first time Willow had seen her do that since she got her memories back, she turned to Willow.

"Reflex I guess."

"Because I know you care."

"It's a bad habit I'm trying break. Caring gets you killed, if today was any evidence of that."

"But you can come back like you did."

Dess gave Willow a dark look.

"Saying shit like that isn't going to change my mind."

Dess walked off at a brisk pace.

"Wait Dess, I didn't mean to make you mad. What do you mean?"

Dess stopped walking, she had made it about half a block away before she had paused.

"I feel the pain of dying every time I come back. So I die painfully and get to feel it all again when I am resurrected. So I don't try to die frequently, it's uncomfortable."

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry."

Willow said tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey what are you crying for? Stop that."

Dess said, walking back to Willow and taking her hands in her own. The demon looked into Willows eyes, her eyes were filled with genuine concern. Dess smiled one of her rare smiles,

"Thanks for caring, not a lot of people do."

* * *

**OOOOOh there is a relationship starting to develope, wonder what'll happen next?! Tell what you think or want to see happen next.**


	9. Chapter 9

**If I owned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'd be a rich hoe! Too bad Joss Whedon is that rich hoe! All new characters are mine!**

* * *

The Dark Circle had come into so much power from Victor. Every wish they made was granted no matter how crazy they were. The only price they had to pay was a summoning ritual to summon a new demon. _It's a small price to pay to get revenge on those kids who made fun of me._ Sam thought as he preformed another one of Victor's rituals. Victor was pleased that he didn't have to summon demons every night trying to figure out the right combination. Now he had his own little army of low class human wizards and witches summoning new demons almost every night, narrowing down the list of demons he, himself could summon. _Also now I don't have to use my precious energy and save up for the real demons._ Victor thought to himself as he watched Sam preform the ritual again. Sam was getting good at the ritual and improved every time, using less energy to summon more powerful demons. _He would have made a good apprentice back when I was king. _Victor turned to the girl with glasses who had been standing next to him watching in awe at how easily Sam was able to conjure yet another demon from Hell.

"Your turn my dear Clare."

She nodded and nervously took her place.

"I wish the girls who bully me would get bullied themselves so they know what it's like."

Victor nodded, _that's an easy enough spell._

"It is done, now complete the ritual."

Clare began the ritual, chanting and burning the herbs just like Victor had shown her. The spell was going fine when towards the end the script turned red. Clare gasped and lost concentration on the spell. The spell then backfired and Clare was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Sam rushed to help his friend, he pulled Clare from the circle and held her.

"Hey Clare are you alight?"

He asked looking for some sign she was alive. After several seconds she regained conscience and sat up.

"Sorry I messed up Victor. The whole glowing thing really breaks my concentration. I'll try again tomorrow if that's okay with you."

Victor looked at the girl as she left with Sam. _It's not her concentration that's the problem, she doesn't posses the magical power to summon anything._ As the two left the girl with black hair and tattoos came walking in dragging the scared boy behind her.

"Come on Steve quit being a pussy and do the ritual. All of us have done it except you, so you have to today. That was the deal we made with Victor."

"But I don't have any powers, I already told you that."

Victor watched with mild amusement as the two continued to argue. It was true that the boy didn't have the slightest trace of power in him, but as he practiced every day he was starting to show signs of promise.

"Come Elizabeth, show Steve how you do the ritual so that he can learn from you. You out of all the others always summon the fiercest demons."

"Please call me Lizz, I don't like being called Elizabeth, it's so old fashioned."

Lizz stalked over to the circle. She sat down and drew the script for her next demon, she then prepped the herbs. Once she was done she sat back and took a deep breath,

"I wish my parents would let me do whatever I wanted, without asking any questions."

With that she began the chant. The script began to glow red, and the herbs began to burn. _She has so much malice in her heart, I quite admire that._ Victor watched as the demon began to rise from the ground and take shape. _This one will be the strongest one yet._ The horned demon rose from the ground and stood at over seven feet tall. It had hooves for feet, and six arms. _This demon will be able to control minds._ Victor smiled as the demon kneeled before Lizz,

"What do you want me to order him to do?"

"He must go find the allies of Destruction and destroy them, however he sees fit."

"Who are the allies of Destruction?"

Steve asked,

"Do not worry yourselves about that, now Lizz give him his orders."

Steve gave Victor a sideways look as Lizz repeated the instructions. He was sure Victor was up to something other than full filling their wishes. _What is this guy up to?_ He then made the decision to watch Victor more closely from now on.

* * *

The six armed demon made it's way to the place that it's master told him to go. _Whose order am I following anyway? That girl was letting that wizard run the show. Oh well, it's not my place to question my orders._ It came up on the Summer's home, but when it got within half a block it stopped in it's tracks. There was a barrier around the house preventing him from betting any closer. _I work better from a distance anyway _ It backed away from the home and made its way towards downtown. _There are weak minded people all over this town to do my dirty work anyway._

* * *

Willow was woken up by the sound of someone muttering. Her door was wide open and she could hear the sounds from down the hall. She got up and walked over to the other guest room. Dess' door was cracked open and she looked in. Dess was tossing and turning in her bed,

"Stop, I didn't want this..."

Dess' face was twisted in fear and Willow could see she was crying in her dream. She reached out for someone to help her, but no one in her dream was there for her.

"Please... I love you."

She muttered desperately trying to grab a hold of whoever it was. Willow heard Dawn's door open,

"She's muttering in her sleep again? Must be some dream."

"She's done this before?"

Willow whispered, looking back at Dess. She had settled in her sleep again and was now resting peacefully.

"Yeah I'm surprised you haven't heard it before, she can get really loud."

"Is it always the same thing?"

"Pretty much, we should move downstairs she usually wakes up after her dream."

Dawn and Willow walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Willow went over to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of juice. Dawn made them both a sandwich and the two sat down and snacked on their midnight meal. Sure enough, Dess came down the stairs and went straight to the fridge without looking at either of them. She pulled out a pudding cup and began to eat it.

"You want a sandwich? We were both a little hungry too."

Willow asked as she watched Dess' face for any sign of emotion. She looked up from her pudding cup and made eye contact with Willow. _What's wrong?_ she asked with her mind. A_ bad dream, that's all, I don't want to talk about right now._ Dess thought back.

"Nah, just needed some sugar."

Dess threw away her garbage and made her way out of the kitchen. Before she left the room Dawn called after her,

"If there's anything bothering you, you know you can talk to us about it."

Dess stopped at the door with her back still turned to them.

"Thanks, but I'm fine, really."

She continued out of the room and up the stairs back to her room.

"She's so stubborn."

Dawn huffed as she ate her sandwich. Willow looked at where Dess had been standing in the door way. _I wish she'd tell me whats wrong._

* * *

**What could Victor be planning? Will we ever find out what Dess' dream was about? Will the author stop writing these endnotes? Find out next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**All new faces are mine, anybody familiar belong to Joss Whedon. **

* * *

"Buffy, there's something wrong with everyone at school."

Dawn complained as the group made their way to Sunnydale Highschool.

"Everybody has a hard time in school Dawny, it's just all apart of growing up."

Buffy replied as they made it to the front of the school. Everyone stopped to watch as a girl ran out of the school crying.

"I'm sorry Clare for bullying you! Please stop!"

The crying girl was closely followed by another girl with glasses. She was holding a pair of scissors, and grabbed the crying girl by the hair and began to cut her hair off, one clump at a time.

"Please stop!"

The girl cried out. The girl with the glasses ignored and continued to cut her hair savagely. _There's something wrong with this girl._ Willow thought as she looked at the girl. _Her aura is wrong._ Willow moved to help the girl when movement from her right caught her attention. Dess had walked over and grabbed Clare by the wrist, stopping her from cutting more hair. Clare looked at Dess in surprise and anger.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? I am a powerful witch and I'll curse you to death if you try to stop me!"

Clare then took the scissors and moved to stab Dess in the chest. Dess raised her hand and blocked the hit. The scissors had stabbed through her hand, Dess hadn't even flinched.

"How can you even see right now?"

Dess asked pulling the scissors out of her hand and threw them away. Clare backed away from the demon and sized her up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your eyes are clouded by so much hate and anger that I don't think you can see what you're doing."

Clare looked at her in shock.

"Can't you see the darkness around her?"

Dess asked looking at Willow. Wilow looked at the girl again, she could now see a dark aura around the girl. This dark aura was blocking out the girl's real aura.

"I can see a dark aura surrounding her true self, I think that's what making her do all this."

"I think you are very right. I know the His smell from anywhere. What has Vincent promised you?"

Clare took a few steps back from Dess,

"How do you know Vincent?"

"We've known each other for awhile. Now what did he promise you?"

"He said he would grant our wishes if we did what wanted in exchange. He's a very powerful demon, so you have no hope of beating him."

Dess rolled her eyes,

"What is it Dess?"

Willow asked.

"He's done this before, pretending to be a demon and granting the wishes of the poor saps who 'summoned' him. What are you doing for him in return?"

"Why would I tell you? You are Vincent's enemies, I'm not going to help you."

Dess gritted her teeth in frustration. _She is already heavily under his spell so talking to her won't help us. _Dess watched as the wound from the scissors healed itself closed leaving a faint scar on her hand. Suddenly she raised an eyebrow as she remembered something. Buffy and Willow were escorting Clare to the principals office as Dawn comforted the girl who was attacked.

"What do you mean by 'our wishes'?"

Dess asked before Clare was out of earshot. Clare looked back at Dess with an evil grin,

"There's more than one of us willing to do our master's bidding."

"Great."

Dess muttered as she shook her head. _What is that asshole thinking? Using kids and bewitching them, that's a new low for him. _Dess turned to follow the group inside when there was a shout from the other side of the court yard.

"Guys help!"

It was Dawn's voice and the three turned to see a man with a knife running towards a group of students. He had dirty clothes and face like he had slept in the nearby bushes. He ran at the group waving the knife. The kids scattered and ran to get inside the school. One boy wasn't so lucky and was caught by the crazy man.

"Shit not another crazy person, Will stay with Clare and get her to the principals office, after that make sure everyone else is safe, Dess you're with me."

Dess nodded and followed Buffy's lead as they approached the man with the knife.

"Help!"

He screamed as the man drew the knife close to the boy's throat. Dess approached the man from behind as Buffy moved to distract him.

"Hey so I don't know if you're aware, but that is not how you make friends around these parts."

The man didn't seem to be listening to Buffy, but waiting for something. He was looking around a little confused.

"Sir? Could you let the boy go?"

Buffy asked again, inching closer trying get herself close enough to grab the boy away. The man's attention snapped back to Buffy and he pulled the boy closer.

"Nobody is going to take my treasure."

He snarled at Buffy and backed away. Buffy could see that Dess had moved to behind the tree that the man was backed up against. _Don't make your move yet._ Buffy hoped as she watched the man and Dess carefully.

"Okay, well what if I wanted to trade for your treasure? Could we trade for something?"

The man had spaced out again and was looking around for something or someone. His attention was drawn to Buffy as she tried to get closer. He pulled the knife closer to the boy's throat and Buffy backed away.

"He sent me to get treasure, he said that the demon would follow the treasure where ever it went."

"Who sent you? What demon are you talking about? Maybe I can go get them and we could let the boy go?"

Buffy asked as she watched the man, his eyes seemed to be clouded over and didn't seem to focus on anything. He continued to look around for whoever he was talking about. Buffy looked to where Dess was hiding and couldn't see her anymore.

"Are you waiting for me?"

Dess asked stepping into view from a few feet away. Buffy looked at her with surprise,

"What are you doing? I thought you were going to swoop in and help, not show yourself."

Buffy whispered loudly at Dess. Dess just shrugged as the man now made a strange happy gurgling sound.

"Yes! He said you'd show up. He is so very smart."

"Well I'm here, you can let the treasure go now."

Dess said as she began walking closer to the man.

"He said I have to take you somewhere first."

The man said as he backed up a little,

"Can I bring a friend?"

Dess asked as she slowly crept closer,

"Oh no, they can't come."

"Why not?"

"They have to save the redhead."

Dess looked past the man to see Willow being pushed by another ragged person. The woman had equally torn up clothes and dirty complexion. She had tied Willow's hands and had placed duct tape over her mouth, she also held another knife to Willow's neck. Dess' face darkened when she saw Willow. She clenched and unclenched her fists as she watched the woman push Willow further into the courtyard. _How did they get you? Why didn't you call for help?_ Dess thought at Willow, she didn't get a response

"Not a smart thing to threaten my friends."

"It was all His plan, I merely follow His orders. We will all stay here while the witch is taken somewhere. When he gets there your other friends may go and try to save her, while you and I go for a walk."

"What makes you think I give a shit about that boy? I could just rip you heart out now and be done with this mess."

"Your master doesn't want you hurting humans, she would be very cross with you if you allowed two humans to die for her wouldn't she?"

The man laughed as Dess growled in anger. The woman with Willow then began to march her across the courtyard and to a van parked at the curb. The sliding door opened and Willow was pushed into the vehicle, the woman following her. Buffy and Dawn stood next to Dess as the van pulled away.

"You better get her back in one piece."

Dess said through gritted teeth.

* * *

The group stayed put in the face off with the man and his boy hostage for another hour. The man just stood there with an unfocused look on his face.

"He's being controlled by someone like that lady. It takes a lot of concentration to do that so whoever is pulling the strings is probably hiding somewhere quiet and secluded. If you guys can find that asshole and shake him up I bet he will lose control over those two long enough for us to save their captives."

Dess told Buffy and Dawn as they huddled together making a game plan.

"So you're saying we are going to need back up."

Dawn asked.

"If you can scrounge up some more players for our team that would be great. We need someone to go after Willow and help her from whatever trouble. We need another team to run interference on the mind controller which may involve some fighting."

"What about you? Don't you need some help too?"

Buffy asked.

"I can handle myself, as long as that locket doesn't fall into their hands I can't die. Let's just hope they don't know that already."

"And what if they do? What would you do then?"

Dawn asked.

"Improvise and hope you guys take care of your end first?"

Dess said, shrugging. The man cleared his throat,

"It's time for the games to begin!"

* * *

**Drama! What's going to happen next? We'll both find out in the next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the extended delay. I'm back and hopefully with weekly chapters.**

**Everyone familiar belongs to, our lord and master, Joss Whedon.**

* * *

Dess followed the man through the graveyard. She was becoming more uneasy the further they walked, it was in the opposite direction they took Willow. _I hope Buffy can save Willow before I meet this guys master._ Dess thought as she watched the homeless man drag the poor kid along with him as they made their way to the mausoleum at the back of the property. Dess saw that the gate she had opened was wide open and the door ajar.

"Who opened the door?"

She asked the homeless man. The man ignored her and went to the structure and then inside. Dess followed him inside and looked carefully around for any clues. In the middle of the space was a small stand with an opened box on it. Dess walked over tot he box and looked inside. It was empty, but there was a round hollow spot in the middle of the box that looked like something small was supposed to fit in it. Dess traced the hollow space with her hand and got a shiver down her spine. _He was here,_ Dess thought as she felt Victor's familiar and terrifying residual magic. _What did he take from here?_ Dess was lost in thought when the crazy man cleared his throat.

"Now the game can begin."

"Great what are we going to play? Twenty questions?"

Dess replied sarcastically. She was losing her patience fast, she was worried for Willow and the sooner she got to her the better.

"No, we are going to play tag."

The voice was deep and inside Dess' head. She turned around, looking for the source of the voice. She couldn't see where the voice was coming from and Dess didn't like surprises. There was a rustling near the back of the room and a shadow moved. Dess couldn't see where the shadow was moving and didn't see the fist come crashing into her face. Dess staggered back and looked up, before her stood a demon she was hoping she would never have to meet ever again.

"How long has it been Dessy? One hundred? No two hundred years?"

Dess looked at him and inwardly groaned. _Not this guy, anybody but him._ He stood eight feet tall, with six arms and looks that could kill. He had two "normal" yellow eyes and a third red eye in the middle of his forehead. It was closed at the moment and Dess knew she had to keep his attention so he wouldn't use it. His skin was a light gray and had a pattern of tattoos that covered his body. Dess was a little amused at the sight of him wearing earth clothes.

"Those jeans make your ass look great from here 3 Eyes."

Dess laughed wiping the blood from the cut on her lip that had already healed itself.

"Not as great as that tight little body of yours. I always was a big fan of your human form."

The demon licked his lips as he ogled her up and down.

"Look I'm on the clock, so if you would quit with the pleasantries. I'd like to kick your ass and leave okay?"

Dess snapped. She took out the knife she had taken from the demon that had attacked her earlier and held it up.

"A holy blade? Now where did you a cute toy like that?"

3 Eyes smiled, not even looking worried.

Dess frowned and swung it at 3 Eyes, he side stepped her easily and smacked her against the wall with one of his hands. Dess hit the wall and the knife slipped a little from her grasp. The metal made contact with her skin and there was a sizzling sound as her skin was burnt.

"You better be careful Dessy, that blade hurts you just as much me. Thats what I call a double edge knife!"

He laughed at his own joke and the homeless man joined him as well the kid. Dess looked over at the kid and saw that his eyes were clouded over. _He got control of the kid? When did that happen? I couldn't feel his energy at all. Unless he had control of the kid in the first place. _Dess pulled the clothe that she had wrapped the knife with. She was careful to grip the knife with the clothe around the handle to keep it from burning her further. Dess stood up and faced 3 Eyes again.

"Oh, that was clever. Too bad I have a better trump card than you!"

3 Eyes yelled at Dess. He waved one his hands and the homeless man brought his knife up to the boys throat.

"Wait! Stop! Don't hurt him."

Dess said looking at 3 Eyes.

"That depends on you Dessy, drop your knife. If you resist then I'll have good 'ole Bart here gut this kid open like a fish. I bet he would flop around like one too. Wanna find out?"

Bart pressed the knife into the kids neck drawing blood.

"Okay, Okay! Here I am dropping the knife see?"

Dess said. She let go of the knife and it fell to the ground with soft clink. 3 Eyes grin got wider as he watched Dess back away from the knife and raise her hands up, showing she no more tricks up her sleeve.

"Good girl, Victor had said your new master ordered you to protect humans, but I didn't believe him. Now I see he was right, and this makes it so much more fun for me."

He walked over and grabbed the knife from the ground careful to use the same clothe Dess had used to protect himself from the blade. He smiled as picked it up,

"Come over here and kneel before me."

Dess almost shouted at him, but he raised an eyebrow at her rebellious look and pointed to the boy. Dess bit her lips so hard it began to bleed as she walked over and knelt before the other demon. She braced herself for what she thought was going to be forced fellatio. What happened next caught her off guard completely. 3 Eyes slashed the knife across Dess' face. Dess screamed and fell backwards holding her face. The cut burned and bled horribly as Dess rolled around on the ground.

"How do you like that cunt!"

3 Eyes screamed at Dess kicking her in the ribs as she flopped around in pain.

"Serves you right for what you did to my little brother!"

Dess was balled up on the floor, her stomach hurt as much as her face. She didn't know she could be in this much pain and still be conscious.

"What are you talking about? I don't know your brother, I didn't even know you had a brother!"

She moaned, every word was agony as it re-opened the cut on her face. He had slashed her across her entire face. The cut went from one corner of her mouth to her opposite ear. There was blood in her left eye, keeping her from being able to see out of it. She could feel it heal, but it was slower than usual. _It must be because of the holy blade._

"Do you remember that demon you beat to a pulp and threw into an enchanted circle? That was him, he barely made it back alive thanks to you and the Slayer."

He spat, grabbing her by the collar of her jacket and lifting her to face him.

"Oh, him? Now I remember, I can see the ugly family resemblance now."

Dess choked out. She smiled as 3 Eyes roared in anger,

"He also had a bad temper like yours, I wonder if your blood is the same color or if you both have the same expression of pain?"

Dess teased. 3 Eyes growled,

"Lets see how long it takes to wipe that smile from your face."

_Buffy save Willow. _Dess repeated in her mind as 3 Eyes began to beat her.

* * *

**How is Dess going to get out of this one? You'll find out in the next chapter, Muawhahaha!**


	12. Chapter 12

**All familiar faces are Joss Whedon's, anybody new is mine.**

* * *

3 Eyes slashed at Dess again, this time slicing open her back. Dess lay on the ground, unmoving. Her whole body covered in gashes and bruises from 3 Eyes' beating.

"Come on, I know you can take more of a beating than this."

3 Eyes jeered. He walked over to Dess and picked her up. He stood her up and admired his work. _Buffy better hurry her ass up before he gets bored with this._ Dess thought as she gritted her teeth. 3 Eyes had stabbed her in the shoulder and was twisting it, to get her to scream. Darkness took over Dess' world as she lost consciousness.

* * *

Buffy and Dawn had followed the van as best they could but lost track of it in the industrial district. It was late at night and the neighborhood wasn't lighted at all. Buffy had called Xander and Giles for their help. She had quickly filled them in on the situation as well as gave them their instructions. Xander was to help Giles research a way to break the hold of the mind control demon. Buffy and Dawn got out of their car and began looking down allies for any sign of where the van had taken Willow. As Buffy and Dawn walked, some movement caught their attention. Buffy entered the alley first drawing a steak from inside her jacket. As Buffy neared the end of the alley a figure emerged from the shadows.

"Angel? What are you doing here? I thought you had left."

Angel smiled at the Slayer.

"I heard that Victor Bloodsteele and his demon servant Destruction were in Sunnydale. I'd thought I should pop by and check-in. Destruction is a very dangerous demon."

"No more than you Angel. Although I am glad you are here. We could use all the help we can get right now."

Buffy told Angel all about how Dess got her memories back and how Will was the holder of the locket. She told him how Victor Bloodsteele had somehow gotten free and was using young kids to wreak havoc on Sunnydale. She told him how Victor was planning something big but they couldn't piece it together. Angel sat patiently and listened to the whole adventure. Buffy cold see that he was stumped at Victor's endgame plot.

"I've heard of Victor's exploits only in passing, but he was sealed away before I was born. This guy is bad news. We're lucky he doesn't have all his magic back. You should have Will work her magic on him and seal him away. The sooner the better. Speaking of which, where is she? I haven't seen her since I got here."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"That's the million dollar question. She's been kidnapped, Dess got pulled away by a mind controlled, hostage taking, homeless man. We're stuck looking for her without any idea of where to start in this neighborhood. Dess could find her easy but we all don't have Willow radar."

Buffy huffed and kicked a boarded up door in frustration. The door broke off it's hinges to reveal the inside of the building.

"Oops."

Buffy grimaced and went to pick up the door when she heard strange noises coming from down the hallway. She looked at Angel and then to Dawn.

"Do you guys hear that?"

She asked, then turned her head to listen better.

"Yeah it sounds like a bunch of people talking."

Angel said following Buffy into the building.

"These buildings have all bee closed up for demolition. There shouldn't be anyone in them."

Dawn pointed to a notice on the broken door. The three of them followed the voices down the hall to another door. This one had been left ajar. The group went through the door and walked down the next hallway. The voices were getting louder as they approached the next door. Buffy grabbed the doorknob and inched the door open slowly. She peeked through the crack.

"Oh no."

* * *

Willow's head hurt as she slowly woke up. She held her head and tried to remember what had happened. She remembered the lady with the knife, getting into the van and then driving away. After that it was all a blank.

"She's awake master."

The raspy voice of the woman sounded nearby. Willow couldn't focus her vision to see who the lady was taking to. All she could tell was that they were wall and wore dark clothes.

"Where am I?"

Willow asked trying to stand up. Hands grabbed her shoulders and held her down. Willow tried to use her magic but all it did was make her head hurt and vision blur worse.

"Don't bother trying to use your magic. It won't work here, I drew up some runes so I wouldn't have to worry about your magic getting in my way again."

Willow's blood turned to ice. _That's Victor!_ She thought looking at the tall figure.

"Where's Dess? You can't take the locket from me, it has to be given."

Victor laughed.

"Your little demon pet is playing with an old friend of hers. She won't swoop in and save you like at the bar."

Victor began to pace in front of Willow. He looked at his watch and laughed again.

"The show is already underway, shall we watch it together?"

There was a clicking sound and the far wall began to glow. Willow could hear Dess scream while another person laughed.

"Dess are you alright?"

Willow called out, trying to get up again but was unable to do so.

"She can't hear you my dear, I thought you would want to watch your sweet little pet as she is tortured."

"She's not my pet, she's my friend! Why are you doing this?"

Willow yelled as she watched a six armed demon stab Dess in the shoulder and pin her to the wall, making her scream again.

"I'm not doing this, you are. He won't stop until I say so, I won't say so until you give me the locket. So the longer you wait the more she suffers."

Willow looked down at her trembling hands holding the locket. She held it over her heart.

"What should I do?"

She whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

* * *

**Thank you to those who have reviewed. Your input is welcome!**

**Silent Scream: It kills my soul every time I reread a chapter and see the mistakes, I don't have anyone to proof my stories before I publish them. :( That's why I'm spacing my chapters out by the week so I have some time to catch those typos. So hopefully that won't happen as often. Glad you like the story!**


	13. Chapter 13

**All familiar faces belong to Joss Whedon, any new faces are mine!**

* * *

Dess laid on the ground, her whole body was covered in cuts and gashes. None of them were deep enough to be fatal. Dess couldn't believe she hadn't died yet, she had lost so much blood. 3 Eyes walked over to Dess and gave her a kick, she grunted and looked at 3 Eyes with her good eye.

"Had enough? All you have to do is beg and I'm sure my boss will take pity on you."

Dess shifted her weight and sat up.

"Who is your boss? Victor? He doesn't have an ounce of pity left in his soul."

3 Eyes laughed,

"Nope, I don't follow Victor's orders directly, too bad for you."

A girl with dark black hair stepped into the light holding a camera on a tripod. The red light was lit so Dess knew she was being watched. Dess took a ragged breathe and slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"You give up? I thought you'd last longer than this. I guess Victor was right about you."

The girl giggled as 3 Eyes laughed uncontrollably. Dess gritted her teeth in frustration. She opened her mouth to beg them to stop, but she stopped herself. She could feel Willow, _Wi__l__low?_ She thought hoping to get a response. She didn't get one, but she could feel Willow's emotions: fear, anxiety, anger, sadness. Dess could read what Willow was feeling and she realized what was going on. A small smile cracked across her face.

"Dont worry Willow, I'm doing just fine, dont worry about me and hold onto that locket."

Dess yelled at the camera. 3 Eyes and the girl both looked surprised and disappointed. 3 Eyes reached down and grabbed Dess by her hair and pulled her up to stand.

"What gives you the idea that Willow is here?"

He asked shaking her as he said every word. Dess just smiled,

"Ready for round two? Cause I could go all day."

3 Eyes looked to the girl for direction and she looked to her phone. The three of them waited awkwardly in silence. Then the girls phone vibrated and she flipped it open. There was a pause as she read the message, then she closed it and turned to 3 Eyes.

"Go ahead and kill her, he says that'll upset the witch sufficiently."

Dess looked from the girl to 3 Eyes. She looked over at the crazy woman and boy hostage. They had moved since Dess last saw them, they were now both sitting in the corner next to each other. The lady was loosely holding her knife. Dess gaged the distance between her and the knife. 3 Eyes wasn't paying any attention to Dess.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? She'll heal up all her wounds, wouldn't some more torture be more fun?"

"Are you questioning your master? Do you want to be sent back?"

The girl snapped at 3 Eyes.

"No master, I just thought-"

"That's the problem, you were trying to think. Leave that to me and my master."

While the two were arguing Dess was making her plan. _This'll only work if Buffy can take out the mind control in time._ Dess thought to herself. _If only I could communicate with her on the timing._

* * *

Buffy, Dawn, and Angel were driving back to Nigel's house. They had hurried back after being in the old warehouse.

"So what exactly did you see in there Buffy?"

Angel asked as they zipped through traffic. Buffy was dodging cars left and right, making both Angel and Dawn very nervous.

"I know what Victor is planning. When I looked through the door I saw a whole army of zombie people. They were all working on this huge altar looking thing. There were symbols scrawled all over the outside. I know that some of them were the symbol for "beast" and there was another one that was for "witch". That can only mean our two missing friends."

"How do you know what the symbols mean?"

Angel asked.

"Will was translating the symbols she found in the graveyard and I recognize them from her drawings. Any altar that references two of my friends can't be good."

"Wait, are you saying that you consider Dess a friend? Buffy do you know how many humans she has killed?"

Angel remarked as they continued to whiz through traffic.

"Angel you don't know her like I do, she totally different since she met Willow. She's helped us out of several jams. She wanted a second chance and I gave it to her, like I did for you."

Angel didn't reply and the car fell into silence.

* * *

Xander and Nigel were reading some of Nigel's books on demons when Buffy burst through the door followed closely by Dawn and Angel.

"So I hope you found the demon we are after and how to block the mind control powers."

Buffy said walking over to Nigel. She smiled at him hopefully as he set down his book and took off his glasses.

"No I'm afraid we haven't."

"There's nothing in all your books about mind controlling demons?"

Dawn asked surprised.

"Actually its the opposite, there are too many to pick from. There are all sorts of mind controlling demons that it's impossible to find out which one is our demon."

Xander replied, he picked up two huge old volumes to show everyone.

"These have over 80 demons in them that have all 80 different flavors of mind control power."

He dropped the books back onto the table and sat down.

"That's not good we have to stop this demon now. Dess and Will are in bigger trouble than we thought."

Dawn said stepping forward and looking at Buffy.

"Right Buffy?"

"Yes, they really need our help."

Buffy said nodding her head in agreement. Angel had been quiet the whole time, leaning against the back wall. He now stepped forward,

"Would another demon be able to tell us which mind control demon we are after?"

Everyone looked at Nigel for the answer. Nigel looked at the floor deep in thought. After a minute he looked up,

"Yes I believe it would. But where are we going to find a demon? We can't summon one without Willow's help and it would be way too dangerous for any of us to attempt."

"I know that, but I can think of one chaos demon that was close with one of our group."

All eyes were on Xander as everyone except Xander figured out who Angel was talking about.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

Suddenly it dawned on him,

"Oh no, she hates me! There's no way I can convince her o help us."

"Fine I'll do it then, we need her help whether or not she wants to give it."

Buffy said standing up and moving to the door.

"Angel and I are going to her apartment, you and Dawn go to the magic shop and we'll meet you there. Nigel stay here and keep reading on these demons, we will need to know exactly how to stop this guy the minute we find out who it is."

Buffy and Angel left before Xander could argue. Xander turned to Dawn,

"Shall we go then?"

"Good luck you too, and stay safe."

Nigel wished the two well as he closed the door.

* * *

**Hey readers, sorry I didn't get this out like I thought I would. I got a new job and the hours were brutal to start with but now I should be able to upload regularly. Tell me what you think or write a review! Share with your friends, family and even your cat, the more input I get the better I can make it! **


	14. Chapter 14

**All the usual suspects belong to Joss Whedon and all the newbies are mine.**

* * *

Willow was surprised when Dess talked into the camera. She could see how much pain Dess was in from her wounds. Somehow Dess' words had a calming effect on her. Willow set her jaw and looked at Victor. He was furious, the dark energy was radiating from his body. His negative energy scared Willow but she knew that she was safe as long as she kept the locket in her possession. Victor pulled out a phone and pushed some buttons and then put it away. There was a silence in the video and then a girls voice sounded somewhere off camera.

"Go ahead and kill her, he says that'll upset the witch sufficiently."

"No!"

Willow cried, struggling to rise. She shook off the hands holding her down. She stood up and faced Victor, gathering magic energy ignoring the pain in her head. _I don't need to see to light him on fire__. _Willow thought as her vision faded. She focused on the negative energy Victor was giving off and sent all her energy towards him, muttering the magic words. Victor had his back towards the witch and didn't realize that she was fighting the runes he had set until he noticed that the air around him became immensely hot. He whirled around in surprise as he saw the angry red head standing a few feet away. The people in charge of holding her down couldn't reach her because of the intense heat. Flames erupted up on his sleeves. Victor began chanting the counter spell. The flames then extinguished as the air was cooled and Willow started to waver. She pushed harder against the runes and Victor. Her eyes slowly darkening. _She's tapping into dark magic?_ Victor thought as he continued to chant drawing in more mana from around him causing some of his subjects to collapse. Again Willow pushed back, she could feel herself losing her will to the dark power that was slowly seeping into her mind. _If I don't end this soon I'll turn all evil again,_ Willow realized. She took a deep breathe and pushed, the air became hot again as the balance was tipped. Willow heard footsteps as someone entered the room in a rush.

"Hurry Sam, strengthen my runes!"

Victor barked at who ever had come in running. Sam put his hands on the runes and added his magic to them. Willow suddenly felt a crushing pressure on her chest, pushing out all air in her lungs. She began to choke and lost all concentration on her spell. The air became cool and Willow sank to the floor unconscious, clutching the locket tightly in her fist.

* * *

Dess could tell something was wrong with Willow. Willows energy changed and felt dark, then after a short time it changed back and then disappeared altogether. That told Dess that Willow was either unconscious or worse, dead. Dess was still trying to decide when to act. 3 Eyes was stalling with his master, he really didn't want to kill her just yet and couldn't understand why Victor wanted her to die so early into their torture game. Dess sat patiently against the wall waiting for them to come to a consensus. Her wounds were slowly beginning to heal. They were healing slowly because of the Holy blade 3 Eyes had used to cut her with. All her broken bones had healed and she could see out of both eyes again.

"I just don't get it, she wasn't supposed to die so early in the game."

3 Eyes reasoned to his master.

"Victor's orders are absolute, you follow them or get sent back. Do you at least understand that?"

Lizz snapped, she was getting very impatient and kept checking her phone for the time.

"You can't send me back that easily. Remember that I control all those human slaves of yours. If you send me back, you lose your free labor force."

3 Eyes yelled then crossed his arms.

"Tell that to Victor when he calls you back."

"You idiot! Do you realized what you just said in front of that demon? That was supposed to be top secret."

Lizz hissed hitting 3 Eyes over the head. The two of them exchanged glares and then looked at Dess. Only she wasn't there, they looked to the door. It hadn't been opened, so they looked to the back of the room. Dess was standing in front of the two zombie humans with her back to them. She had the woman's knife in her hand.

"Now that is some useful information. All I have to do is kill you? That's an easy job."

Dess turned around to face the stunned demon and his summoner.

"This would have been over a long time ago if I'd known that, and since when did you get that power 3 Eyes?"

Dess asked taking a few steps forward, menacing the knife at 3 Eyes.

"I got it a few decades back, it was a reward for causing some serious damage in a European village. Are you jealous?"

"Not one bit, why would I be jealous of a dead demon who can't keep his mouth shut."

Dess replied with a smile.

"Besides I've got centuries more fighting experience than you. You wouldn't last five minutes in a fair fight."

Dess moved to engage 3 Eyes but was stopped by the woman and boy zombies. They had grabbed her from behind, one on her legs the other on her arms. 3 Eyes laughed,

"You're right, if we had a 'fair fight' you would win, but since when have I fought fair?"

Dess couldn't do anything with the two humans holding her. She couldn't kill them and 3 Eyes knew it. The woman went for Dess' knife hand, Dess had to make a choice, fight and save Willow or follow orders and risk letting Willow die. Dess decided that she'd rather apologize to an alive Willow than grieve for a dead one. Dess used her free arm to pull the woman away and toss her aside effortlessly. She then kicked the boy aside, sending him flying backwards. 3 Eyes clearly wasn't expecting Dess to break her promise with her master so easily. He didn't react fast enough as Dess lunged forward and was able to stab him in the chest. 3 Eyes screamed as Dess pushed him back into the wall. Blood leaked out of the wound and pooled on the ground at their feet.

"I think I owe you some pay back for earlier,"

Dess hissed into 3 Eyes' ear before biting it and tearing it off. Eliciting another scream from the 6 armed demon.

"Hey! Did you forget about me?"

Lizz stepped into view holding the Holy blade that 3 Eyes had dropped. Dess rolled her eyes, _Wish I could._

"No, I'm just getting warmed up for the main event, you sorry waste of a human."

Dess twisted the knife, making 3 Eyes thrash. He tried using all 6 arms to push Dess away, but she ignored them.

"Fine if you're going to ignore me then maybe this will get your attention!"

Lizz shouted, conjuring a ball of magic energy. She unleashed it at Dess. The ball hit Dess and dispersed. Dess still didn't move.

"Why didn't that work? What are you?"

Dess' eyes began to glow green. She turned toward the girl and said in an eerie voice,

"What am I? I am Destruction."

And with that snapped 3 Eyes' neck, returning him to the underworld.

* * *

**Presents?! I love presents! Don't you? I posted two chapters today because I love you all so, so, much. Yup...that's the reason.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Joss Whedon is the creator of all familiar faces, anyone new is mine.**

* * *

Buffy and Angel knocked on Anya's door. There was no answer, Buffy knocked again.

"Anya open up it's me, Buffy."

There was the sound of movement from inside and then the door opened.

"What do you want? Do you know what time it is? Chaos demons need their sleep to ya' know."

Anya said as she opened the door. Buffy pushed past into the apartment. Anya whirled around and followed Buffy inside.

"Do you really think that because you are the Slayer you can just do whatever you want?"

"Yup, especially when there's trouble."

"Oh no you don't. I'm not going to help the Slayer. I would lose so many contracts if I did."

Anya said sitting down on her couch. Angel motioned to Anya,

"Can you help a vampire?'

He asked smiling, still standing in the doorway.

"Well technically I can, but I don't want to because by proxy I'll be helping the Slayer."

"Anya, Willow is in huge trouble. Ever heard of Victor Bloodsteele?"

Buffy asked. Anya could hear the desperation in her voice. The name also peeked her interest.

"Victor? He's here? You better watch out for his pet demon. She's crazy strong even for a demon. Why would Victor be here? I should have been warned before he even got here-."

Anya began to ramble and pace the apartment.

"Why would you get a warning?"

Buffy asked trying to get Anya back on track.

"Well his demon is literally called the Destruction. She could level Sunnydale in minutes. The Elders would have warned all the nearby demons to leave so they wouldn't get caught up in the slaughter."

"Anya you don't have to worry about Dess-."

Angel began but was cut off by Anya.

"Worry? I am absolutely terrified of Destruction. Anybody who goes up against Victor and his demon die horribly."

Buffy grabbed Anya by the shoulders and held her in place.

"Anya, Willow has the locket that shows ownership of Dess. Dess is on our side. Victor has Willow captive and we need to save her. He's trying to force Willow to give him the locket, and after he's got it, he'll use Dess and Willow in some strange sacrifice."

"Oh well why didn't you say so? What do you need me for? Just send Destruction in and she'll wipe the floor with them."

"Won't work, Victor is using a mind controlling demon to control humans to stop Dess and Willow doesn't want her to hurt to humans so she's been neutralized. We need your help in figuring out which demon is using mind control so we can stop it. Then that will let Dess go find Willow and save her."

Angel explained slowly to Anya making sure she got all the details.

"Okay but you're going to need to take me to some of the zombified people. That's the only way I'll be able to tell who is controlling the humans."

The three of them then left to go to the warehouse where Buffy had seen the army of zombified humans.

"I just hope we get there in time."

Buffy muttered to Angel as they got into the car. _Dess is smart, she can take care of herself right?_

* * *

The room that Willow woke up in was very different from the first one she stayed in. This room was a huge open room. Willow guessed it was a warehouse because of how open it was. There was a least one hundred people milling around doing odd jobs. Some had buckets of red paint and were painting symbols all over the walls and pillars. Others were using white paint to draw lines that appeared to be random. The altar that Willow was seated next to was red but not from paint, Willow could smell blood but wasn't sure whether or not it was human or animal. There was a small kind of seat in the middle of the altar with two holes in front of it with a third smaller one in the middle. Willow was sitting on the far right of the altar. She had never seen this kind of altar before and was curious what it was for but at the same time was terrified. There was a pillar on each of the corners each with a different symbol carved into it. Two of the symbols on the pillars Willow recognized, the symbol for "beast" and the symbol for "sacrifice". _This can't be good at all._ This ritual involved Dess and Willow knew she had an infinite amount of energy she could expend, so that meant whatever Victor had planned involved a lot of energy. She looked at the other symbols trying to figure out what they were, but all the others were not familiar to her. She couldn't move from her spot because of the heavy chains that held her to the ground. They were covered in runes that were blocking her from absorbing any mana from the earth. Willow looked down at around her neck, the locket was there and it was getting warm. _She must be getting close._ Willow continued to look around her trying to find out if there was a way to escape or at least make noise so Dess could find her. As Willow looked around she got a horrible feeling in her stomach. All the people were all leaving out of the far door and Willow was left alone with no guard. _This is a trap for Dess._ Her eyes got big as she looked at the white paint on the ground. _Those aren't just lines, those are old runes symbols. If Dess walks into this room she'll be powerless!_ She thought hard towards Dess trying to warn her, but could feel a heavy blanket settle over the room. Her thoughts would only get to Dess at short range and there was no way they would reach her in enough time to avoid the trap. _I can't do anything about this! She's going to fall for this trap._

* * *

Dess raced through Sunnydale. She was able to get the location of Willow from the girl. She had been so terrified of how Dess had killed 3 Eyes that she begged Dess to spare her. Dess wasn't going to kill her anyways but decided to use the leverage to her advantage. She could feel Willow's energy again but not her emotions. It felt like something was blocking the connection, she could feel what direction Willow was in but not how Willow was doing. She was on the other side of Sunnydale, _of course._ Dess had mumbled as she was finally able to focus on finding her master and friend. _Don't think of her like that, it'll only make it hurt more when she dies._ Dess caught herself before she went down that road again. She jumped through yards and over fences. Finding the fastest way possible to get her to Willow. The trail ended in an industrial district that Dess didn't know existed. She walked over tot he nearest building and ripped the door off the building. She inhaled deeply and then left the building. _Not here._ She repeated the action three more times before coming across a building with the door already off its hinges. She stuck her head inside and inhaled again. _There! _Dess rushed in toward the door on the other side of the hallway. She flung it open and moved down the next hallway, the whole time Willow's scent getting stronger. She flung open the last door,

"Willow?"

She called, walking into the huge open room. She smelled paint, and looked down, there was fresh white paint all over the floor. _What the hell?_ She thought looking at the whole room. It was covered in red and white paint. Some of the symbols she recognized but couldn't put her finger on what it was about them that made her feel like she had seen them before.

"Dess!'

Willow called from across the floor. Dess immediately moved towards her.

"No! It's some sort of trap! You have to get out of here!"

Willow yelled trying to stand but the chains were too heavy.

"I don't care if it's a trap, I had to save you."

Dess called back as she ran further into the room. The white paint began to glow and the room became very bright.

"You may be regretting that decision my pet."

A male's voice boomed. Dess and Willow both knew that their night was just getting started.

* * *

**Like it? Love it? Tell me what you think!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**Joss Whedon is the God of this universe.**

* * *

Dess couldn't move, she looked around trying to figure out what was binding her. The room now had an eerie glow to it as the runes were being filled with power by some of the slaves. Dess was stuck to the ground about 15 feet from where Willow was sitting. At first Dess didn't understand why Willow wasn't using her magic but realized that the chains had runes all over them and Dess figured they were blocking the use of magic. Dess tried to move again but as she lifted her arm the ground at her feet crackled as electricity shocked Dess. Her whole body seized up and she gritted her teeth to keep from screaming. When the energy stopped she let out a sigh and looked at Willow. She looked all right from Dess was standing but she could feel that the witch was very worried. _Are you alright? I felt your energy change a while ago, what's that about?_ Dess asked with her mind. It was bad enough to be so close to saving Willow and yet so far away from escaping, she wanted to talk to Willow privately but Victor hadn't left his perch watching the two interact. The look on his face was creepy as he seemed to enjoy just observing the two. _I'm so happy you're all right, I am fine its just_ _I almost escaped earlier but with the amount of energy I was using it was beginning to consume me._ Dess gave her a dark look, _don't ever rely on dark magic, or you'll end up looking like Victor when you first me__t__ him._ Willow made a disgusted face,_ how did he get like that?_ Dess glanced at him to see what he was doing, he had moved down to the main floor and was walking among the pillars, he was humming a cheery tune. Every now and then one his servants would walk over to him and he would drain some of their life away making them look even more like zombies. _He began by draining the life force of people to prolong his life. We became "contracted" __when he was a young man and he was so obsessed with power that he refused to accept that he had to age and die like the every other human. He began to eat souls and as a consequence he lost his own. He doesn't care what he has to do as long as he gets more power. _Victor then came back into view and several servants walked into the room carrying all sorts of weird tools and jars full of things that Dess hadn't seen before. _Do you know what those things are filled with?_ She asked Willow. _They look like dried herbs and other ingredients. Dess I don't like what going on here, it looks like they are preparing for a spell and the volume of the ingredients leads me to think its going to be a big one._ Dess had noticed the symbol for "beast" on the altar covered in blood. _I think they are going to sacrifice me._ Dess thought to herself, she didn't want to worry Willow any more than she was already.

"Now then ladies if you are done chatting away, its time for the main event."

Victor said as he walked past Dess to stand at the base of the altar.

"What are you trying to do? Why do you need Dess for this?"

"Because,"

He started, leaning forward to be very close to Dess' face,

"I am going to sacrifice her to absorb her power,"

He then turned to face Willow,

"and then I'm going to do the same to you."

Victor laughed as Dess tried to move again and was electrocuted. She had tried to grab Victor when he was so close to her face but was unable to.

"You bastard! Don't you touch her. I'll kill you myself!"

"My, my how lucky are you Willow, to have such a loyal pet. She never said anything like that to me. She even tried to have me assassinated once. Didn't work though obviously."

"Too bad, your death would have saved so many lives."

Dess grunted as she recovered from being shocked again, she was fighting the runes with all her strength.

"I think if you are left alone any longer you may actually get out of there."

Victor waved to some of his slaves and walked over carrying a thick leather collar and leash.

"Do you remember this pet? How we would go on nice walks when you were feeling rebellious?"

Dess' body language changed and Willow could see the fear in the demon's eyes. She could feel the fear from Dess through the locket.

"Just wait until I get free, this time I will kill you and finally avenge the deaths of all the people you have murdered."

"You are putting on such a brave face in front of Willow. I wonder how long you can keep that up when I put it on you? I remember when you used to cry when I would pull this out."

Victor walked over to Dess with the collar and leash. Dess struggled to get away, but couldn't move. Victor slipped the collar around her neck, Dess looked at Willow, _help me please._ Willow's heart broke, she had never seen Dess so scared or vulnerable in the time they had known each other.

"Stop it!"

Willow yelled at Victor. She couldn't draw in any energy and didn't have the arm strength to lift the chains. _I feel so helpless._

After the collar was fastened, symbols began to glow on the outside. Dess let out strangled cry, the runes around her feet stopped glowing and she collapsed to the ground, she curled up into a ball. There was a crunching sound and her body began to contort. Her face stretched out a small amount, and her knees bent backwards. Willow could hear Dess whimper. At first they sounded like a person but slowly devolved into animal whimpers. Her body became covered in dark blue fur, the fur around her head and neck was especially think almost like a mane. Her hands were now paws and a tail poked out from her pants. By the end of it, Dess had transformed into an over sized dog with dark blue fur, her mane had red tips and her eyes were green with the pupils slitted. Willow stared at Dess in shock, Dess continued to lay curled up on the ground, avoiding eye contact with Willow. _Dess can you still hear me?_ There was no response from Dess.

"You didn't know her demon form was a dog? I thought she would have told you that when you became her master. She's looks better as a dog though, don't you think?"

Victor laughed, reaching down and grabbed the leash. He pulled on it and Dess rose to her feet. He walked her around the open room, she walked with her head hung low. He walked her back over to Willow. _Dess please answer me, are you all right? _Willow thought to Dess. _I can't..._ Dess' thought cut short. _Dess I know it must be hard to concentrate to use telepathy but you have got to try. We have to find a way to get out of here before __there is real damage done to you__. _Willow knew that demons could change form but to be forced to change must have been very hard on Dess' body. The point to having a human and demon form was for the demon to be able to talk to humans and interact with them. They weren't meant to stay in their demon forms for long periods of time in the human world. Only when they needed their full demon powers for fighting. _Willow, it hurts. Make the pain stop. _Willow glared at Victor, he returned it with a smile.

"She always had a bad temper, but every time we went on a a walk she would calm down and behave herself. I think she realizes who is in charge now."

He reached down and removed the collar, Dess began to turn back. Her body making horrible cracking sounds as the bones moved back into place. When she was human again her clothes were torn and her skin was pale. Dess was taking shallow ragged breathes as she lay on the ground. She didn't try to move or talk. _Can we leave now?_ Dess asked Willow. _How are we going to do that? I can't move or draw in magic to use, and you are crippled from that forced transformation. Are you okay? That sounded like it hurt a lot._ Willow tried to slip her hand out of the chains but with no luck. _I'll be fine, I just can't feel my legs yet. This isn't the first time he's done a forced transformation, I can handle it._ Willow got mad at Dess' words, _don't act tough, that was brutal and we both know it. _Dess paused for a moment, _yeah that sucked, __I __really don't want to go through that again._

"So now I think its time that we get the real party started. Don't you agree?"

Victor gave Dess a nudge with his foot.

"Fuck you."

She croaked and then spat his face. Victor wiped the spit and grabbed Dess by her hair and dragging her over to the altar.

"We'll see how rebellious you feel after I slice open your stomach."

* * *

**Things are getting hella intense yo! Please leave a review and tell what you think. I want to make this better and the only way is to get input.  
**


	17. Chapter 17

**_I tried to break up the long paragraphs for friendlier read. Let me know if that helped. All of the usual characters belong to Joss Whedon. _**

* * *

_Will, this is going to be a very nasty ritual, but after he absorbs my power there will be a moment where he won't be able to move __or think because he has to absorb my memories on top of gaining my strength. Use that chance to get out of here. If you escape he won't be able to get the locket __or kill you either._ Victor threw Dess on top of the altar. She grunted as she was slammed onto the concrete structure by Victor's inhuman strength. _If he tries to convince you he'll stop if you give him the locket, don't believe him. I'll be okay as long as you hold on to the locket. No matter what you hear, hold on to that locket. __Please promise me Willow! _The two held eye contact, _I promise Dess._ The runes on the altar began to glow with power as the humans dumped the jars of ingredients on top of Dess. Willow watched helplessly, the locket clutched tightly in her hands. It began to get warm and shake violently. Victor began chanting and Dess' body began to glow red and symbols appeared all over her. Dess grimaced, _don't scream. That'll only make things worse for Will and encourage Victor._ She gasped as she felt her life force begin to drain, it felt like someone was dragging barbed wire through her veins.

"Last chance to save your friend Willow, I won't need to steal her power if I have the locket."

Dess looked over at Willow, _don't do it,_ she thought. She couldn't concentrate to send her thoughts telepathically any more but she couldn't help it. Willow didn't say anything and looked away. She was crying as she heard Dess struggle to keep her screams silent. Victor saw that Willow wasn't going to cooperate and so he continued the ritual. He pulled out a knife that was crudely curved and jagged, he pointed the tip down at the center of Dess' chest. After a few more mumbled words he plunged it into her chest. Dess let out a gargled scream and thrashed on the altar as Victor pulled the knife down splaying her open. Demon blood ran down the sides of the altar and began to run down the stairs where Willow sat. She saw the blue blood and tried to move so it wouldn't get on her, again the chains held her down. The blood got all over her legs and she felt like she was going to throw up. Victor reached inside of Dess' chest and yanked out what should have been Dess' heart. It looked like it had been mummified a long time ago, the wrappings hanging off of it.

The locket in Willow's hands was becoming unbearably hot. It was also making a rattling sound as it shook. Willow didn't know what the locket was doing or how Dess was doing. Everyone was silent, it was so quiet that Willow could hear the dripping of blood as it fell from the altar. Victor was silent and unmoving, Dess likewise wasn't making any noise. Willow hoped that she wasn't suffering any more but wanted some sign that she was all right. The locket was now too hot to hold and Willow had to let go and hold the chain. The locket opened and light poured out from it. The light drifted over and circled around Dess, healing the horrific wounds. Once the light made its way over to Dess,Victor motioned for his servants to move Dess' body so that it was sitting up facing the crazy man. Willow now had a perfect view of Dess' insides as they spilled out onto the altar. The scene was almost too much for Willow to watch. She wanted to look away but felt like she had to watch to see what Victor was doing Dess. Victor pulled out a strange prism from his pocket and placed it in a stand right in front of Dess. The prism was black but you could see through it. It had a strange energy about it, like it was drawing all the light in the room to it. Once it was place in the stand, the light that came from the locket was pulled through Dess towards it and was absorbed through the prism. The light that came out was black and moved like liquid. The black liquid moved towards Victor and he opened his mouth. He began eating the liquid and his complexion began to improve rapidly. He looked like a young man with dark black hair and matching eyes. When the light passed through Dess she was beginning to heal but the light would get taken away and the wound was reopened again.

Willow could hear a strange wheezing sound and realized in horror that Dess was alive. _I thought I would never have to do this again. I hate this part so much, so much pain. Stay positive, Willow will get her chance to escape soon. I have to stay conscious and tell her when to get out of here._ Dess thought to herself. She concentrated on breathing to stay alive. Willow could see Dess' lungs slowly fill and deflate. Dess' eyes were closed but Willow knew she was conscious. _Just how much is Victor going to absorb from her?_ Willow thought when suddenly there was a cracking sound from the prism. It shattered and Victor made a gasping sound and rolled his head backwards. _Now Willow! Use my blood as a power __source __and get the hell out of here!_ Dess' thoughts were weak but determined. _No, I'm not leaving you with him. We are both leaving this place. _Willow thought back. She placed her hand in the blood and traced symbols on the chains. The chains fell off and clattered to the floor. The servants heard the noise and ran over to intercept Willow as she made her way over to Dess. Willow waved her bloody hands and the blood on the floor bubbled and became tendrils, extending and whipping the servants out of the way. Willow walked over to Dess and pulled her off the altar.

The light from the locket had already healed the stomach wound and Dess' guts were returned to where they belonged. Willow slung Dess' arm over her shoulder and helped her walk away from the middle of the room. As they made their way to the door on the far end, it opened and ten more servants entered the room and blocked their only exit. The light from the locket had been healing Dess and she could now stand on her own. The locket was no longer hot to the touch was tucked safely away under Willow's sweater. Dess took her place between Willow and the servants, all of whom had various weapons. One of the servants shouted at them,

"You aren't leaving until our master says you can!"

Dess cracked her neck and sighed,

"I knew I hated Mondays for a reason."

"Let me handle them, I'm already soaked in your blood, and you need more time to heal."

Willow said, placing a hand on Dess' shoulder and moving in front to face the group of brain dead people. Willow's voice sounded strange, very dreamily and low toned. Dess could feel Willow's energy and it felt very different. Dess looked at Willow and saw that her eyes were dark.

"Willow what's wrong with your eyes?"

She looked at Willow's hands and saw that they were stained blue from her blood.

"You taste sweet."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Willow licked her hand and smiled at Dess,

"Your blood, it tastes sweet and makes me feel so good."

Dess shook her head,

"You are not meant to eat my blood, just use it as a power source! Great, this is really bad. Willow I need you to get a grip, you can't let the darkness consume you."

Dess placed her hands on Willow's shoulders and shook her. Willow just smiled at her and flicked her hands, sending one of the humans flying across the room and smashed against the opposite wall.

"Snap out of it. If you get any more carried away, you'll kill somebody and I know you don't want that."

"I'm okay Dess, really. I can feel the power coursing through my body but I feel in control. I'm going to kick some ass and then we can leave."

"You are not okay Willow, I can feel your energy and it's wrong."

Dess sighed and looked into Willow's eyes, searching for any hope that she would come to her senses before having to do _that_. Seeing none Dess got really close to Willow's face,

"Don't take this the wrong way."

Dess leaned in and kissed Willow. At first Willow resisted and Dess had to wrap her arms around Willow to keep the two of them together. Dess could feel the dark energy leave Willow and was replaced by her usual warm aura. Willow stopped struggling and began to relax in Dess' embrace. Dess pulled away and looked into Willow's eyes to see them return to normal.

"Better?"

Dess asked, pulling away from the still stunned witch.

"That was so scary, I wasn't in control of myself. I could feel the dark magic flow into me and I couldn't do anything. And then you kissed me and then it felt like you cut through the fog and pulled me back."

"Close enough,"

Dess said shrugging. She turned to the nine humans between them and freedom.

"I can still punch humans right?"

"Sure, I think that's okay in this case."

Dess cracked her knuckles,

"Okay, let's get out of here."

"You would like to think you can get out of here, but sadly I cannot allow that."

Victor's voice boomed from behind them.

Dess turned around to face Victor,

"Fuck my life."

* * *

**I swear I uploaded this chapter but apparently not. Please tell me what you think! **


	18. Chapter 18

**A nice healthy chapter for your reading pleasure. Let me know if you like longer chapters or you want me to keep doing shorter bits.  
**

* * *

Buffy, Angel and Anya arrived at the warehouse. There were zombie workers everywhere, they wandering around outside and bumping into each other.

"They weren't like this before, why are they wandering around outside?"

Angel asked, looking at the zombie workers.

"I don't like it, let's find out why."

Buffy said, getting out of the car. She walked over to the door way she had opened earlier and the other two followed. They were half way down the first hallway when they heard a shout, followed by a loud crash. They all rushed to the next door and opened it quickly,

"Well you certainly took your time."

Dess snipped as she pulled herself out of a pile of broken concrete and loose bricks.

"We got here as soon as we could. If you are done fooling around we can get back to the real problem."

Angel said, taking a ready stance as Victor sent two chunks of concrete flying towards them.

"Like I was playing around with Victor, he absorbed my power and took back his heart, and you expect me to just bounce back from that like it was nothing? You are quite the piece of work Angelus."

"That's not my name Destruction and you know it."

Angel snapped, the two of them stopped paying attention to Victor and were now facing off with each other. Dess' face was paler than usual and there was sweat on her forehead. Angel was standing calm and collected as the two sized each other up.

"I don't recall even wanting your help in the first place, what the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to help Buffy and Willow, not you. If I had known you were with us I wouldn't have come here."

"That's very typical of you Angel, only helping when it's a convenience for you. I think it's about time somebody messed up that stupid face of yours, pretty boy."

Dess and Angel moved to fight each other when Buffy and Willow stepped in between them.

"Stop it you two, we have other things to worry about."

Willow said. Dess could hear how tired Willow was and realized it had taken a lot of energy to fight the dark magic. That dark magic wasn't sitting to well with Dess either. _This is not like you Dess, what's wrong with you?_ Dess felt strange, she was angry, not just angry at Victor but everything all at once. It was like everyone was against her and trying to cause her harm. _I think it's the dark magic I absorbed, it may be affecting my temper._ She paused and focused on the real task at hand, which was Victor. He was going to be a big pain now that he had his magic and his heart. He needed his heart to control the magic in the first place. He had hidden his heart in Dess when they had been hunted down by the Coven. They were after Victor and knew he couldn't use magic properly without his heart that he had removed from himself. Now that he had it back he could manipulate the magic that was flowing through his veins.

"Are you two done fighting amongst yourselves?"

Victor asked smiling. It was that smile that really ticked Dess off, and it just Victor's luck that Dess was in a really bad mood now.

"I am going to wipe the floor and walls with your stupid ass face."

Dess said approaching Victor. She began to morph shape, only this time it was by her choice. Her hands became claws and her face changed into a dogs snarl. Her eyes now glowing green and her hair growing thick around her head and neck. Her ears became pointed and her tail appeared. Since Dess' clothes were already shredded, her fur poked out of her shirt through all of the holes. Willow could see a horrible scar from being cut open that ran her entire abdomen. Over where her heart should be was a brand that was in the same script as the runes on the ground and on the mausoleum, but she didn't know what it meant.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Dess growled, her voice was deep and very animalistic. She was around eight feet tall when she finished transforming, every muscle bulging and flexing. She was terrifying to look at, with her sharp teeth and black fur. _Black? Why is it black? Her fur was __blue before wasn't it?_ Willow thought as she watched as Dess approached Victor. _Something feels wrong with her energy._

"Dess stop, something isn't right."

Dess turned to look at Willow. Dess' eyes were solid black,

"What now Willow? I now have a chance to kill this bastard and you want me stop?"

"Yes Dess, I think your magic was tainted when you absorbed my magic. You need a cleanse before you use it again, I don't know what will happen if your negative magic makes contact with Victor's, something bad may happen."

"You are being ridiculous, I'm fine."

"But you weren't fine before you transformed, you said so yourself."

"Well I feel fine now so what does it matter?"

"You weren't using your magic then."

"This is stupid, I have the energy to kill one of the worst villains of the earth, and you want me to wait because you got a bad feeling? How do you get anything done with her around?"

Dess asked Buffy.

"A lot actually, because her feelings are usually right on the mark."

"Well we don't have the luxury of time today kids, so if you are done, mommy's going to kill the big bad now."

Dess made to move away from the group when Angel grabbed her arm.

"I think Willow's right too, you shouldn't go over there."

"Like I give two shits what you think Angelus. Get out of my way."

Dess shook Angel's arm off and took two steps before being caught in a thick wall of energy. Dess looked at Willow and began to fume,

"You think a little magic is going to stop me? Do you have any fucking idea who I am?"

"Dess you aren't yourself, can't you feel the dark magic in your mind? You have got to get a grip."

Dess began to growl, making everyone back away slowly.

"You have no idea what that man is capable of doing if he gets out here alive. I have to kill him for everybody's sake and my own."

"Get your head out of your ass Dess, there are more important things than revenge."

Angel snapped at her. Dess turned to look at Angel and snarled again, showing her sharp white teeth at the vampire.

"Do you know how many vampires I've killed with these teeth? I'm not afraid to kill one little vampire who got in the way of me and killing Victor."

"I'm not afraid to kill an out of control demon, who is acting like a spoiled brat."

Dess began to growl and approach Angel. They both were ready for a fight. Buffy saw that Dess was serious about killing Angel and stepped between the two.

"Angel please don't start with her, you know she isn't herself right now."

"Sorry Buffy, this demon is acting exactly how she did three hundred years ago. She hasn't changed one bit and somebody needs to stop her before she destroys another town in her quest to kill Victor. You haven't seen what the amount of damage this demon can do when she has a tantrum."

Dess stepped forward so that their faces were mere inches apart.

"And you won't live to see what happens when you really piss me off."

"Dess back off and Angel, you too. It's clear you two have history but we can settle this another time."

Buffy said pulling Angel away from Dess, while Willow used her magic to keep Dess' from moving forward. _Where did you two meet before?_ Willow asked Dess silently. _That is a very long story,_ Dess responded. Dess turned to look for Victor and he was no where to be seen.

"Where the fuck did Victor go?"

Dess continued to swear as she walked over to where he had been standing and circled the altar.

"Well I hope you are happy Angel, you let Victor get away again."

"It's your own damn fault, you can't control the dark magic you absorbed."

Dess was livid. She hadn't changed back from her demon form and now she was towering over Angel. She raised a fist and punched Angel. He flew across the room and crashed into the far wall. Angel got up and punched Dess in the face. She barely flinched and returned the punch. They took turns hitting each other without giving any ground.

"Hey knock it off!"

Buffy called as she leaped into the fight. She tried to pull Dess away from Angel but Dess shrugged Buffy off and tossed her aside.

"Stay out of this Slayer, this is between me and the vampire."

Dess growled.

"That's right, picking fights is what you're good at, but you never finish them yourself. You always get somebody to finish them for you, or you just make up excuses."

Dess' rage was out of control as she swung wildly at Angel's head, missing him and smashing into the wall, creating a huge hole.

"Woah, glad my head wasn't there, otherwise that might have hurt. Good thing you can't control yourself otherwise I might be in trouble."

"Angel are you serious? You are antagonizing her and you call her childish?"

Buffy scolded. Angel was distracted by Buffy telling him off that he didn't see Dess kick out. Her foot connected to his stomach and sent him crashing out the window. He landed on the pavement below and remained motionless. Dess leaped out the window and began to beat Angel.

"Will do something about your demon, if we don't do anything she is going to kill Angel and I don't want to have to kill her first."

Buffy jumped out the window and began to fight off Dess. Dess was now in a blind rage that she didn't even pause when Buffy came at her swinging a metal pipe. Willow watched her friends fight below and tried to talk to Dess. _Dess? Dess listen to me, Buffy isn't you enemy. You need to stop fighting her and Angel._ Dess didn't respond at all. Willow took a deep breathe, _I really didn't want to do this Dess, but you've given me no other choice,_ Willow grasped the locket with both hands and concentrated on it.

"Stop fighting Destruction."

The command was full of power and magic. Dess stopped moving, her face contorted in pain as she tried to fight the magic that bound her. There was a pause where Dess continued to fight the magic and refused to calm down. _Dess stop fighting it, you're gonna hurt yourself._ Dess's rage wasn't subsiding she continued to fight Buffy but her movements were much slower and Buffy could easily dodge them. She howled in pain as the magic punished her for not obey her master's command. Finally she couldn't take any more and stopped moving, she stood still and looked at Angel and Buffy with malcontent. She began to sway and slowly her body returned to human. She collapsed to the ground unconscious and when Buffy couldn't wake her, she looked towards Willow.

"I think she's gonna wake up a killer headache."

"I hope that's all she going to wake up with and not a grudge. I promised her I wouldn't use that power on her ever, after what Victor had put her through. I totally broke that promise."

"And I think if you hadn't broken your promise I would have more broken ribs."

Angle groaned as he sat up holding his abdomen. Buffy gave Angel a dirty look,

"And if you had kept your mouth shut and not pissed her off more Willow wouldn't have to break her promise in the first place. On the way home you are going to explain what your history is with Dess, and you better hope she doesn't wake up in the car."

"Okay this was all very amusing but why did I even come if you guys didn't need my help?"

Anya asked crossing her arms.

"You let Victor get away and these humans are no longer under anyone's' control."

She pointed to the now very confused group of people waking up and realizing they were in a sketchy warehouse.

"I killed the demon using the mind control."

Dess grumbled as she sat up. Everyone watched her carefully as she stood up and wiped the dirt from her shredded pants.

"What? No way because while you two were fighting those humans were still under someone's control. I could sense and bet you could too if you weren't all 'psycho lady'."

Anya said walking over to Dess.

"You're right I didn't notice they were still zombified. So what does that mean? There are two mind controlling demons now?"

Dess said looking at the confused humans. Willow had made it down to where they all were and she walked over to Dess. _You feeling okay?_ She asked looking at Dess for any sign that she wasn't. _Yeah why wouldn't I be?_ Dess responded. Willow looked at her, _you mean you don't remember trying to kill Angel and Buffy and totally losing it?_ Dess had been looking away from Willow trying to determine where the mind controlling demon would hide for maximum coverage. She looked back to Willow, _What the hell are you talking about?_ Willow decided not to press her right after it happening and would bring up later when they got home.

"Can you pick up where the demon was hiding?"

Dess asked Anya. Anya shrugged,

"No but I can say for certain they have left the area."

"Well there nothing left for us here so why don't we meet up the others."

Buffy suggested. The group all murmured in agreement and they piled into the car and made their way to the magic shop.

* * *

**Hope you guys like this chapter. This story is coming to an end but I plan to make more in the series if you all want it! There will be a couple more chapters for this one, but they will take some time to write because the end is very important to me and I want to get it right.  
**


End file.
